The St. Regis Doha to celebrate Japanese Culture

The St. Regis Doha to celebrate Japanese Culture with

“Cherry Blossom Festival”

Doha, Qatar 19 April 2015:

The St. Regis Doha is delighted to present ‘The St. Regis Cherry Blossom Festival’ from 19th April to 25th April. The festival includes a line-up of education, fashion, food and arts activities inspired by the Japanese culture.

The “Cherry Blossom festival” kicks off with a Kimono show of traditional fashion for women through the ages on 19th April. Leanne Mills, Director of Marketing said “This program has been meticulously developed and choreographed between multiple teams in Qatar and Japan. In addition to around 25 Japanese ladies and children getting involved, we’re also delighted that two local Qatari designers have taken an interest through our joint connections with The Luxury Network”, she said.

Asma Sckali and Safia Al Qahtani have independently collaborated with the teams at The St. Regis Doha, the Japanese Embassy and The Luxury Network to prepare and show a unique collection of abaya designs with heavy influences from Japanese culture and couture.

Following the Fashion Show, on 20th and 21st April, the renowned Japanese artist, Takeshi Ohbayashi returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center Doha with Takuya Kuroda, a trumpeter and composer, to celebrate his homeland.

Every day from 2:30pm, Sarab Lounge at the St. Regis will be serving a special afternoon tea, and on 22nd and 23rd April, we will be hosting an ‘Ikebana’ flower-arranging lesson followed by a Chakai ‘Japanese tea’ performance, by the wife of His Excellency Yukio Kitazume, the former Ambassador to Qatar from 2007 to 2010. Mrs Hiroko Kitazume was previously very active in the Doha community organizing and taking part in cultural events including Ikebana, Tea Ceremonies and Kimono fashion displays, and she has flown from Tokyo to play a very central role in the festival week’s events.

Throughout the festival, Astor Grill will be decked out in cherry blossom to ensure diners feel the full experience of the festival and will be serving a special Japanese menu.

On 24th April, the famous St. Regis Friday brunch will adopt a decidedly Japanese theme, with delicate morsels of Japanese cuisine on the menu.

Closing the week’s festivities, on Saturday 25th April, the Japanese School of Doha students will delight and entertain the Cherry Blossom family picnic crowd with their drumming demonstration.

HE Ambassador of Japan to Qatar Shingo Tsuda said: “This Festival provides an opportunity for the people of Doha to experience a variety of Japanese cultural elements and the Embassy of Japan in Qatar is pleased to see such events happening through the initiative of St. Regis Hotel Doha. We wish success to all the activities at the St. Regis this week.”

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