Thousands of expatriates were transported to a world of dance and music yesterday as the Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) organised several entertainment programmes at different locations across the country on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.

The festivities kicked off at Asian Town in Doha Industrial Area, Barwa Workers Sports Complex in Al Khor and the Indoor stadium in Wakra Sports Club. The cultural show at the first two venues will continue today too.

The whole of Asian Town was filled with a large number of people who were enjoying the Eid festivities by engaging in various activities. With the weather turning out to be less hot compared to Eid al-Fitr, several youngsters could be seen meeting their friends, conveying Eid greetings and spending time with them.

Large crowds were in attendance from early evening at the venue where Indian, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Indonesian communities organised a mega cultural show. Presented at the open stage near the cricket stadium in Asian Town, the events included music, folk and cinematic dances, dramas as well as other traditional shows from various communities.

During the programme, the audience had the opportunity to interact with the artistes and perform along with them. Opportunities were also given to the audience to stage their own talents. There were also raffle draws which offered a number of attractive prizes to the spectators.

The Indian community programmes were presented by a number of organisations and orchestra troupes. The artistes sang several popular Indian songs and the performers also danced to the tunes, entertaining the audience thoroughly.

Indian community organisation, Skills Development Centre Music Club and ‘Trends Qatar’, a socio cultural team showcased several songs in various Indian languages and Arabic.

The Bangladeshi community musical troupes Otopar, Chironton Baul and Srabon along with a well known community singer joined the event by presenting songs and Bengali comedy shows.

The Non Resident Nepalese Association Qatar co-ordinated the programmes of several Nepalese community teams that entertained the huge crowd with the presentation of various folklore and traditional shows. The Sri Lankan Co-ordination Committee took part in the event by presenting Sinhalese, Tamil and Hindi songs.

The Indonesian community showcased three prominent Indonesian traditional dances such as Sajojo, Tortor and Cinta Indonesia Dance as well as two Arabic songs. In addition there was also a performance by X3 band group. The Indonesian community organisation in Qatar, Permiqa arranged the programmes.

Pakistani singers Waheed Achakzahi and Nadiya Gul, multi-language singer Rizwana and Peshawari singer Mariyah Khan led the cultural programme in Al Wakra Sports Club yesterday. Several of these artists will perform in Asian Town today.

Barwa Group in collaboration with MoI is organising a two day event, the Al Khor Communities Eid Celebrations at Barwa Workers Recreation Complex in Al Khor Industrial Area. The event showcased Indian, Bangladeshi and Nepalese communities performances and Sariga orchestra troupe presented a musical concert yesterday. The Srabon orchestra troupe will be performing today with several songs in Hindi, Nepali, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil and Punjabi languages.

The Eid entertainment show for the expatriate communities will come to an end today with a number of programmes at two venues.