By Azmat Haroon.
In the absence of big venues, expatriate communities are now looking for alternatives for occasional get-togethers.
Many such events now take place in community halls of select residential compounds. In the Al Khor community, for instance, round-the-year events keep the community hall occupied. The same is the case in Dukhan, where three large halls exist for community events.
Within Doha, althought the size of a hall may not be as big as big as outstation facilities, an average compound can easily accommodate as many as 100 guests.
This has now become a trend as it makes celebrations more private and comfortable for families.
For halls within residential compounds, organisers only have to cover the cost of food because venues come for free.
“For Eid get-togethers, we prefer meeting people in our compound rather than going outside,” said an Al Khor community resident.
“Even when we have to organise a party, we book the hall of our community club,” said a resident of the Green Village. A large number of people now prefer going to events at Katara, Corniche or malls, which they say are organised in a professional way.
Then, there are occasional public gatherings such as those by Doha Tweetups, or events at Education City, which keep crowds, especially the youth, entertained, occasionally with live music.
Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook make it easier to keep track of such events in the country.
Additionally, there has been an increase in group activities. Many hold celebrations on beaches or at clubs, with the Jazz Club at Oryx Rotana being a popular one these days.
Because of such events, people have come to expect more from expatriate organisations than what they can manage, says a former event organiser. There is mounting pressure on these organisations to match the scale at which public organisations host events.
People do not prefer to take their families to community events because of their ‘poor standards’, and the venue and atmosphere is not suitable for them.
This is, in part, due to the popularity of mega events backed by ministries, where money is not an issue.
“Many events in places such as Katara and Souq Waqif need sound systems from outside even resources available in Qatar,” a local event organiser said, adding that the cost would double when an international event manager comes into the picture. Finding sponsors even from the same community can be a challenge.
“There are people within the Pakistani community who can sponsor events, but they show little interest,” said Tariq Ali, one of the organisers of the 2010 Atif Aslam concert.
He added that there had been very few events in the recent past that managed to attract the Pakistani community as a whole. “Our sole purpose of organising events was to bring together our community,” Ali said, speaking about the days when he and his friends, organised a series of events.
The Peninsula
