Children and adults flock to Katara to celebrate Garangao
A large number of children and adults from various nationalities flocked to Katara to attend the traditional festival of Garangao on Sunday night in a joyous celebration of the 14th day of Ramadan, Gulf Times reported.
The participants stayed until after midnight to enjoy a feast of Katara’s colourful Ramadan activities. They also gathered to pick up their cloth bags before going around the interior of the amphitheater, and other Katara zones to collect what appeared to be in some cases almost a year’s supply of sweets and nuts.
Commenting on the event, Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said: “Attracting such a wide audience of all ages to our Ramadan Festival is a sign of yet another success and recognition of Katara as a premiere cultural and touristic destination in Qatar.
"The Garangao night was replete with unique traditional and educational themes, and through it, we aimed at bolstering ties amongst families and neighborhoods”.
Bowls of nuts, candy and chocolates were distributed to the children. Accompanied by their families, most children were dressed in traditional Garangao attire: gold-coloured head and neck pieces, veils and richly embroidered caftans and skirts for the girls, and white ‘thobes’ with gold lining, miniature ‘bishts’, and crisp ‘ghutras’ for the boys.
Traditional Garangao songs were played through loudspeakers, while children sang along loudly as they ran from station to station, in a true revival of the old scenes where children ran from one Ferij (neighborhood) to another.
Garangao is a traditional children's party celebrated after the breaking of the fast on the 14th night of Ramadan, when half of the fasting month is over.
The festival is celebrated in the Gulf region and is known by different names in each region: Garangao in Qatar and Bahrain, Karkee'aan in Saudi Arabia, Gargee'aan in Kuwait, Qarnakosh in Oman, and Hag Al Leylah in the UAE.
Courtesy: gulf-times.com
Though many enjoyed the night, a large number of parents and children expressed frustration at what appeared to be a lack of organization and crowd management this year.
For one, the program started late, leaving many families crowded outside Katara for nearly an hour in the heat.
Additionally, many said that the organizers did not seem prepared for such a large turnout.
Meanwhile, organizers and visitors could also be seen arguing in front of the amphitheater entrances as children attempted to enter closed-off areas. Security guards ran around trying to keep children from coming in.
I guess this was an exercise of managing crowds, and it failed.
I only went there for the Garamgao / joys to all
Muad, Visit that place on the coming Sunday to get the first hand exp ............
It was fun for all - Joys