Five floral themed gardens add colour to Katara Hills | All & About

Source: Peninsula Qatar

The lush green Katara South Hills, the newest destination at Katara Cultural Village, was alive with yesterday’s launch of Al Wasmi Garden Festival — a first-of-its-kind event in Qatar and the first festival to be hosted on the breathtaking hills.

The hills burst with colour and life with five floral themed gardens representing Qatar, France, Japan, Great Britain and India, each of which hosts unique entertainment and activities for visitors. Art Garden, Green Area, Secret Garden, Green Playground, Flower Craft Area and Food and Beverage Area are among the other exciting features of the festival.

A large number of people from different nationalities thronged the opening of the five-day festival. Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, inaugurated the event in the presence of H E Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, Minister of Municipality and Environment; H E Akbar Al Baker, Secretary-General of Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive; Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group CEO of Ooredoo; and a number of ambassadors. Al Sulaiti said that the huge number of visitors on the first day of the festival confirms the success of Katara in its choice of events to organise.

Source: Peninsula Qatar

He pointed out that the festival is aimed at raising awareness among people on the importance of environment and gardening. He explained that the festival presents cultural, entertainment and artistic activities, and visitors will have the opportunity to discover stunning designs of different forms of gardens.

Al Sulaiti invited all families to enjoy a visit to these wonderful gardens in a festive atmosphere, as well as expressed gratitude to festival sponsors namely official sponsors QNTC and Qatar Airways and silver sponsors Ooredoo and Qommunication.

As a leading tourism destination in Qatar, Katara is a melting pot of cultures which provides international forum to enhance human rapprochement and promote cultural exchange, he stressed. One of the main attractions at the festival is Qatar Airways’ well-decked up French Garden with the famous Eiffel Tower in the middle and where artistes such as mime, accordion player, a string quartet and fairytale characters entertain the visitors.

“We are delighted to support the Al Wasmi Garden Festival. It is a fantastic new initiative for Qatar that will delight residents and visitors alike, and is a great addition to our country’s excellent calendar of events. I hope that visitors to the festival will especially enjoy the French Garden by Qatar Airways, inspired by the palace gardens of France,” said Al Baker. Festival visitors can enjoy live performances from popular fairytales; workshops such as origami, pottery, ikebana, dream catcher making and mandala painting; pony and camel ride; and art and craft competitions.

They can also take home take home flowers and vegetables sold at a long line of stalls at the venue. Eye-catching daytime fireworks will also be held at 4pm on Friday and Saturday. The festival is open today, tomorrow and on Saturday from 10am to 1pm and 4pm to 9.30pm and on Friday from 2pm to 10pm.