11-day food festival opens today at Oxygen Park

The 11-day annual food and fun gala Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) opens today at Qatar Foundation’s Oxygen Park, in Education City.

The 10th edition of QIFF welcomes foodies from Qatar and around the globe to celebrate the world’s diverse cuisines every year.

To reach the venue, enter Education City from gates 1, 2, 5, 7: Gates 1 and 2 if you are coming from Mall of Qatar side and Gharrafa AlRayaan, Gate 5 if you are coming from slope Roundabout or Markhiya area, or Gate 7 if you are coming from Foroseya Road or Old Rayaan.

There will be shuttle buses running every 8-10 minutes from various parking areas within Education City as well as from Qatar National Convention Centre parking.

As many as 157 delectable food and beverage options are presented over 11 days. Popular eateries, new outlets and caterers from all over town are offering Arabic delicacies to all major international cuisines.

A distinctive number of upcoming local businesses and startups will be introducing their foods and beverages for the first time to QIFF visitors.

This year, 37 international and local celebrity chefs from 17 countries are coming to the QIFF. Masaharu Morimoto, Richard Sandoval, Dominique Ansel, Eric Lanlard, Ranveer Brar, Siba Mtongana, Jenny Morris, and Lorraine Pascale are just few of these names.

There is also a big number of Qatari chefs participating such as Aisha al-Tamimi, Sarra al-Syed, Noora al-Mazroui as well as regional chefs Manal al-Alam, Jameela al-Lenqawi and Al Yazi al-Awadh.

QIFF also offers numerous exclusive interactive cooking and tasting sessions that are arranged on the sidelines of the festival where aspiring chefs watch and learn master skills and techniques alongside their favourite TV stars.

While select 5-star restaurants across Doha are hosting Chef’s Table sessions with Iron Chef Masharu Morimoto, Richard Sandoval, Nobu Matsuhissa and Barista Trainer Sam Cevikoz, The Chef’s Garden Restaurant in Education City will be hosting cooking masterclasses with Barista Trainer Sam and Food Network star hosts Siba Mtongana and Jenny Morris and Salma Souleiman.

Spread over 130,000sq m, the Oxygen Park has beautifully landscaped outdoor spaces, and underground parking with over 3,000 spaces.

The three grounds have been themed O1, O2 and O3. O1 will be dedicated to cafes, light snacks and other activities and O2 will be all about children’s activities while O3 will feature all the main food stalls and the centre stage featuring Live Cooking Theatre and other programmes.

Besides other activities, Education City’s world-renowned universities will be offering unique, futuristic fun activities for visitors such as getting a 3D face scan, changing your voice, virtual reality experiences, Sphero Football and many other activities including health checks, spin the wheel quiz, Arabic calligraphy and Lego construction of the Minaretein building.

There will be an exclusive Kidzania Go booth offering fun activities like TV station, Radio Station, 360 Virtual Reality and a RightzKeeper Zone for toddlers along with a photo booth and gardening area.

This year being the Qatar-India Year of Culture, there will be special performances and features in the festival based on the cultural offerings of the two countries. Besides the main stage, there will be roaming performances, mascots and food themed structures.

QIFF’s food offerings aren’t just limited to the festival venue. Over 90 restaurants across Qatar are serving a curated “QIFF Menu” through the whole month of March. They present an exclusive 3-course QIFF Menu consisting of a starter, main course and dessert, at discounted prices of QR45, 95 and 125. There are 35 restaurants in hotels, 16 inside malls and over 40 are standalone restaurants offering the QIFF Menu. The list of these restaurants can be seen here: www.qifoodfestival.qa.

QIFF timings: 3pm–11pm (Saturday – Wednesday) and 3pm–1am (Thursday and Friday).

تنطلق اليوم الأربعاء، فعاليات النسخة العاشرة من مهرجان قطر الدولي للأغذية، والذي يقام هذه المرة في حديقة الأكسجين بالمدينة التعليمية، بمؤسسة قطر للتربية والعلوم وتنمية المجتمع، وذلك على مدار 11 يوماً حتى تاريخ 30 مارس الحالي. وسيتمكن الآلاف من جمهور المهرجان من التعرف على فنون الطهي، ولقاء أشهر الطهاة، والاختيار بين مئات الأطباق والمشروبات التي تقدمها المطاعم والفنادق المشاركة في المهرجان.

لقد أصبح مهرجان قطر الدولي للأغذية موسماً لأشهى المأكولات التي تأتي من الشرق والغرب، وموعداً للأنشطة الترفيهية الحافلة بالتنوع الثقافي، والتي تقام في أجواء ربيعية ممتعة وتناسب جميع أفراد الأسرة.

وتأخذ هذه النسخة من المهرجان شكلاً وتصميماً جديدين تماماً، وسوف يحظى زوار المهرجان بتجارب جديدة وغير تقليدية.

وتمتد حديقة الأكسجين ذات التصميم الرائع والمناظر الخلابة على مساحة قدرها 130 ألف متر مربع، وهي تضم مناطق خضراء واسعة ومرآباً كبيراً تحت الأرض لأكثر من 3 آلاف سيارة. وقد تمت تسمية المناطق الثلاثة في الحديقة بأسماء ثلاثة هي O1 وO2 وO3.