Katara in cooperation with UNESCO Office in Doha is hosting a Cultural Diversity Festival from 4th October – 11 November. And its such a shame that many of us never found out! So many countries have already showcased their culture, through live shows for over a month now!

Luckily, around 2 pm I found out that it was the last day of the 2 day performances by Turkey and Pakistan. And regardless of the fact that we have an infection going around in the house (and the kids including me are sick), and also regardless of the fact that it was school night (and my kids are usually in bed by 6:30 pm), we still decided to go as a family!

And it was SO worth it! With the gorgeous Katara Amphitheater as a venue and the prefect November weather in the desert – whats not to love!First up was Turkey and their folk dancers and musicians literally painted the town red! Though it was a delight to watch them perform, I kept thinking about our trip to Istanbul and the finger licking food we had there! (lol)Next up was Pakistan! And I was glad I wasn’t the only excited Pakistani there! 🙂 A Pakistani troop from Lahore called Mishermayl Productions represented Pakistani culture and it was an absolute delight to watch them perform and represent Pakistan in front of such a diverse audience.The troupe painted Doha, my second home Green! And I felt so proud of them! The first act was a dance on a remix of Nahid Akhtar’s Chaap Tilak. It was such a graceful performance on such a beautiful number! Next came a classical dance performance on an instrumental! The performance was mesmerizing with the impeccable coordinated movement of the feet and the sound of the ghungroos on top of that – a very very classy act indeed!Next came the musical band who played a great selection of songs! Of-course they weren’t as good as the original artists but they brought a great vibe and performed pretty well.First they performed a medley of some GREAT songs (all the right ones – I must say!) starting with 

• Noor Jehan’s – Mein Tah Ho Ho Gaye Qurban 
• Nusrat Fateh Ali’s – Dam Mast Qalandar
• Abida Parveen’s –Mahi Yar Di Gharoli  & Ghoom Charakhra

After that came Abida Parveen’s Oh lal meri pat rakhiyo! Not only was their song selection brilliant, but the guy playing the flute (bansuri) was incredible at his craft too! (p.s. I love bansuri and would stop passing by any bazar back home, if I would hear a street musician playing bansuri. And who would have thought I would be sitting in Katara and watching someone play it live! It was a very special moment for me!)The troupe definitely shone just as the moon was shining down on them! And the last but definitely not the least was a fun yet a classic dance number – Shazia Khushk’s Dana pe dana!But what stole my heart was when they took a bow and did this!It was such a feel good kinda show they put up! Right after the show, a friend of mine came to me right and said, “You guys have such an amazing and rich culture!”. I beamed!The troupe put up a great show and then showed a sweet gesture of bringing the Qatar flag along with the Pakistani flag. Definitely a good representation of Pakistan!

I just wish I had known even a day earlier and I could have told you guys why you should definitely check it out. But alas..

You can check out my Facebook live videos to see them in action!