One of the most popular sections of iLoveQatar.net is our events listings and we’ve been growing! In fact, we’ve listed over 1,000 events to date! That means that since the site started, we’ve listed enough events to keep you occupied every single day! You can visit our event section here: http://iloveqatar.net/forum/list.php?27 (btw you can post your own events there) and soon the link will change to www.iloveqatar.net/events

We then decided to launch a twitter channel called @Qatarevents which has been keeping everyone on twitter in the know. We’ve got thousands of visitors too!

Next up was a monthly newsletter. Some of you might know it by now. It’s called ‘The Buzz’. We figured that some people might want a monthly dose of what’s going on, articles, hot topics, and fun stuff rather than daily info. (I recommend signing up to it of course, I think it’s pretty cool.)

Now although people visit our ILQ facebook page for an awesome community, we thought that some people may JUST want an events feed on Facebook too, so we just recently launched Qatar Events on Facebook.

So we took a breather, took a sip of our gahwa (that’s Arabic for coffee btw), looked around the room and then felt like we hadn’t done enough. So we started working on the new events section. We wanted it to look simple, be easy to search, and easy to submit events too. So we came up with this! (See the two screenshots). We like it, and we’re sure you’ll like it too. It’s going to go live VERY soon and what’s better is that you can sign in with Twitter and Facebook if you want to leave a comment or ‘favourite’ your events.

It’s great to know that our hard work was appreciated because we’ve now got a regular spot every Thursday at 6pm with @FinnertyLaura on her show. Tune in and you’ll hear about the upcoming events for the weekend and the next 7 days.  You’ll be able to hear either myself Khalifa (a.k.a Mr. Q), Bassam, or Zhan!

It’s easier than ever to tune into QF Radio. Got an iPhone? Download their app here. On a computer? Visit their site here for a live stream. In your car, then tune into 93.7 FM

Anyway! If you’ve got an event, please do share it with us by emailing events@iloveqatar.net

I know I’ve been posting loads of videos, but that’s what I want see more of! Would love to see more Vloggers here in Qatar!
Alex Klim (@alexklim) is an ILQ user and he’s been making some great YouTube videos and inshallah many more for the iLoveQatar community too!

This vid was shot on a single Canon 7D, Editing, Color Grading & SoundFX done in FCPX.

It features Nina Heidenreich, Principal Second Violinist at Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. The short movie is a modern fairy tale about a young girl passing by a Music Store, getting attracted by a violin and falling into a dream, seeing herself as a talented violinist. Shot at several locations in and around Doha, State of Qatar, including the Cultural Village, The Pearl-Qatar, The Villagio Mall, Inland Sea and the Steinway Piano Gallery Qatar. Jules Massenet’s ‘Meditation’ from the Opera Thais serves as the main theme.

Nice? Think you can do better? Send your videos to contact@iloveqatar.net

I wanted to do a quick write-up of Tomorrow/Bukra. A song that is a collabration of 24 artists from 16 different nations. I initially saw this on MBC and thought that it was great that something like this was finally being done over here in the Middle East and North Africa.

What really got me excited was when I saw the final product. It’s an awesome song, and a lot of it was filmed in Qatar! I spotted Education City, Museum of Islamic Art, and Katara (can you spot any other areas?). We also have two Qatari singers who are representing Qatar (so proud of them!); Fahad Al Kubaissi (who sang the opening sound track to Black Gold) and Essa Al Kubaissi. Only thing missing was to see some people with Cobra Ghitras! Ok let me take a breather… can’t say enough how proud I am of the Al Kubaissis.

Here’s a quick list of the singers:

Akon – Senegal
Rim Banna – Palestine
Tamer Hosny – Egypt (He’s here on the 14th by the way at the Egypt V Brazil Match)
Ahmed Hussein – Kuwait
Hayat Al Idrissi – Morocco
Cheb Jilani – Libya
Ahmad Al Jumairi – Bahrain
Diana Karazon – Jordan
Marwan Khoury – Lebanon
Fahad Al Kubaissi – Qatar
Essa Al Kubaissi – Qatar
Latifa – Tunisia
Asma Lmnawar – Morocco
Mashael – Saudi Arabia
Souad Massi – Algeria
Hani Mitwasi – Jordan
Saber El Rebai – Tunisia
Fayez Al Saeed – UAE
Kadmin Al Sahir – Iraq
Waed – Saudi Arabia
Sherine Abdel Wahab – Egypt
Salah Al Zadjali – Oman
Hasna Zallagh – Morocco
Nassif Zeytoun – Syria
Majida El Roumi – Lebanon

Now if that wasn’t impressive enough, this is what they say about the money they raise:

All funds raised as part of the single’s global distribution will be collected by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture in support of the United Nations World Food Program, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation among others, to finance educational programs in music, arts and culture for children from across the Arab world.

The programs will be recommended by the a Tomorrow-Bukra Selection Committee comprising of key management from the Global Gumbo Group along with various artists and management involved with the Project.

100% of all proceeds will be distributed to programs, with no administrative deductions whatsoever.

(Side note, the Arab Culture Fund logo looks pretty similar to Al Fardan’s logo).

So interested in buying the song knowing that the proceeds go to a good cause? Then click here.

Alright, here’s the music video! Enjoy!

http://www.tomorrowbokra.org/

One Week at the Museum | MIA Doha, Qatar | eL Seed from eL Seed on Vimeo.

Quite a few people asked me “Didn’t we already have an Eid?” and it dawned on me that this might be a good time to explain the two Eids (Eid means celebration) that we have a year. The first one happens right after Ramadan. It’s called Eid Al Fitr which is translated as the Celebration of Breaking Fast. It’s a national holiday, shops will usually decorate for Eid, and family and friends gather together. Everyone dresses up in their best clothes and the kids go out singing songs and getting Eidiya (candy or money).

The second Eid is Eid Al Adha. Translated, it means the Celebration of Sacrafice. It’s also known as the Big Eid. The reason why this is such an important Eid is because this is the one that began the construction of Kaaba (the Black Square in Mecca). This is celebrated in the same way as Eid Al Fitr.

Here’s an interesting fact, in Malta, Easter is called Eid. (I thought that was quite cool).

Anyway! There’s going to be some great festivities, especially at Katara! Between 7:30pm and 10pm you’ll be able to enjoy Fireworks, Dancing Fountains, a light show, and laser show! Be sure to take your family and friends

So, now that you know that we’ve got two Eids, here are other blog posts which you might be interested in

A Qatari’s Eid

It’s almost Eid

Merry Eidmas

Oh and remember, in Qatar, a typical greeting is ‘Eidkum Mubarak, wa asakum min awadah’. Would love to hear more people say it

Traditions of Eid from QTV – Qatari song