Qatar Cultural and Literature Festival, scheduled to be held on 11 and 12 July in Doha, Qatar, will feature prominent celebrities and artists from India as well. Key figures include Mika Singh (singer), Piyush Mishra (actor/poet), Chetan Bhagat (author) and Laxmi Agarwal to name a few.

Zunira Malik, Amal Al Aathem, Rashmi Agarwal, Mervat Ibrahim and others will be joining from Doha. The two-day event is aimed at bringing the two countries closer through art and culture and help strengthen the amicable bond.

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The first day of the event will witness Mika Singh performing in the concert and is lined with book launches as well, giving a sneak-peek into the literature and creative work by the authors.

The second day would include an opening session by Chetan Bhagat on ‘Making a nation read’, followed by a poem recitation by Piyush Mishra. The key events will be followed by multiple cultural performances and panel discussions, including one on women empowerment.

Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh, news anchor Anurag Punetha, journalist Manjeet Negi, authors Anuj Tiwari, Aparna Sharma and Aditi Banerjee, classical dancer Arupa Lahiry, poet Nitin Soni, social worker Anurag Chaugan; film writer Raaj Shaandilya; film actor Sushant Singh; ballroom dancer Sandeep Soparkar and creative writer Erika Ralaine will all be participating in the festival.

Ruhi Ganguly, the Festival Producer said, “I am very excited to see this combination of two such rich cultures on the same platform. We are not just having speakers from India but also the speakers from Doha. Seeing them having a conversation on various important issues will be very interesting. I believe we all are one at heart and with this festival, we will be able to share our feelings and about our rich cultures with each other to get to know each other in a better way”.

Ruhi also announced the team for the event which includes Anamika Mishra as Festival Director, Ankit Satija as Festival Producer and Deepali Verma as Festival Coordinator.

Festival Director and author Anamika Mishra said, “This is my first time in Doha and I have already fallen for the city. I feel privileged to direct this festival as we will get to see an interesting amalgamation of 2 different cultures on our platform. It also feels great to see such a positive response from the people of Qatar for our show. I am hoping for an amazing event. Touchwood!”

Festival Producer Ankit Satija said how friendly and supportive the people of Doha and added: “We didn’t face any problem despite having different languages and culture. I believe our festival is all about the same. We come from diverse backgrounds but that doesn’t stop us in communicating and exchanging ideas. With this festival, we will be able to create a benchmark”.

“Being a coordinator of this festival, at first, I thought I will have a hard time in coordinating because we were working from India but I was surprised to see the level of support that we got from Doha. People who are connected with us from Doha have made it easier for me to work for the event. I am humbled to see the response and excitement in both nations. Just keeping my fingers crossed now.” said the festival coordinator Deepali Verma.

Chief guests of the event include Sheikha Ayiesha, Ambassador of India (Qatar); P. Kumaran, Chairman of NHRC; Dr Ali Bin Smaikh Al Marri, Consultant of Fine Arts Ministry of Culture & Sports (Qatar) and  Amal Al Aathem. From India, the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel and singer turned MP Manoj Tiwari are expected.