DOHA: More than QR400,000 was given away in prizes on the first day of Al Mazayen competition, a beauty contest for goats and sheep, at the third Halal Hal Qatar Festival at Katara yesterday.
For the contest for female goats, the top prize of QR100,000 went to Ahmad Ali Ahmad Al Maadheed.
Second prize winner Issa Khalifa Tawar Al Kuwari received QR50,000 followed by Matar Khamis Matar Al Dosari who received QR30,000, Abdullah Khalid Mohammad Al Khater (QR20,000) and Abdulrahman Mohammad Abdulrahman Al Mansoori (QR10,000).
For the local male goats (Awarid) category, the first prize went to Issa Khalifa Tawar Al Kuwari who bagged QR100,000, followed by Abdullah Khalid Mohammad Al Khater (QR50,000), Ahmad Ali Ahmad Al Maadheed (QR30,000), Shamsan Jabr Shamsan Al Naimi (QR20,000) and Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Ahmad Al Thani (QR10,000).
The competition will see 321 participants during the 10-day festival on Qatar’s traditional animal industry.
Ahmad bin Nasser Al Kuwari, head of events committee, said results of the judging matched with people’s opinion determined through electronic voting introduced at the festival for the first time.
At the public auction (Al Mazad), a male Syrian goat fetched QR30,000 which shows a great interest among people with regard to this tradition, said Hamad Al Hanaz, a middleman in the auction.
“Buyers always prefer specific types of these animals they think have pure breed and good features,” he said, adding auctions will continue throughout the festival.
Al Hanaz, from Kuwait who has been in the business for 15 years, said in his country a Syrian goat was sold for 50,000 Kuwaiti dinar.
The traditional market at the festival is attracting more people, including tourists from other Arab countries.
Products at the market include local handicraft, Qatari swords, honey, traditional Qatari clothes and women’s requirements, among others.
Crescent-shaped Qatari swords are drawing visitors at the traditional souq. Weighing about 1.2kg, some swords are studded with diamonds and gold plated and priced between QR2,000 and QR150,000.
Khalifa Qais Al Kuwari, Director of Qais company for swords and jewellery participating in the market, said they are keen to maintain the tradition of sword-making by crafting high quality ones.
The Peninsula
