Souq Waqif Spring Festival

The Spring Festival has started at Souq Waqif, and wouldn't you know it I forgot my camera to take some photos (and no, the camera on my cell phone is not good as I have an old phone).

It was probably the busiest I’ve ever seen the Souq. There was an amusement park setup for children with activities and rides, including a mechanical bull. There were also two concerts going on, a smaller stage near the restaurants which at the time had a Turkish band and singer performing (I'm not sure who it was but I’m assuming he was well known in Turkey as there was a small crowd of Turks dancing with the music and singing along with the lyrics). In the parking lot near the gold souk a huge concert area had been set up and it was full of Qataris and other people listening to an Arab singer. The place was packed, I believe more than a thousand were watching the concert and a few hundred more were outside hoping to get in. Needless to say the restaurants were doing good business as well, even my favorite juice stall was packed.

It was a fun time and I recommend everyone check it out. Word of warning though, the extra stages and activities were set up on parking lots so there's less parking but more people -- trying to get parking is even more difficult than usual. Go early or expect to park far away.