DOHA: Some 20 traditional boats will be vying for QR450,000 ($123,575) in prizes in a fishing contest in Al Khor on Saturday.
Each boat will have six sailors on board with a judge seeing the rules set by the organising committee are being followed.
The boats are modelled after the ones that were used in this coastal town of Qatar before the discovery of oil, in an era when people relied for livelihood on fishing and pearl-diving.
The contest will begin at 4.30am. The festival is being held by the Cultural Committee of Al Khor Club.
Tomorrow, an exhibition will be held at the club premises featuring paintings of pre-oil
Al Khor when it was a fishing hamlet. The art works will reflect the sea life of the area before the oil find.
Sculptures of rare Qatari fish and samples of some of the rarest pearls will also be on display at the exhibition, along with eight old traditional
pearl-diving boats.
Organising committee officials said that those participating in the contests will also be asked questions about the marine life of the area as also about the types of fish found in the sea.
Sailors must not be less than 15 years of age and they must comply with safety requirements and fishing rules.
At least four patrol boats of the Coast Guard will be deployed to keep track and ensure safety of the fishing boats.
There will be first, second and third prizes and then seven other prizes for the boats making it to the top 10.
The highest prize is QR20,000, followed by QR15,000. The third prize carries a cash award of QR10,000 and the remaining seven — QR5,000 each.
This is the second year of the event which is being held in coordination with Ibrahim bin Ali Centre for Reviving Qatari Heritage. The Peninsula
