The third edition of the Oud Festival at Katara the Cultural Village Foundation, which concluded Friday, has proved to be immensely memorable for the participating artistes, oud makers and the audience. Mohamed al-Marzouqi, manager of Sout Al Khalij Radio and director of the festival, stressed that the festival has become a favourite for oud lovers and makers from around the world and every year there are more improvements introduced to make it even better. 
One of this edition's unique features was all the artistes being present on the stage together as if they were in a family gathering. The shows had both soloists playing alone and group of players playing together. Another improvement for this edition was creating booths for the participating oud makers at a closed air-conditioned area inside Katara building 19, while the outside court had a small stage for performers. 
It gave the customers and oud fans a good opportunity to go from one maker to the other easily, to compare and appreciate the instruments, and select the best for their purposes. Hani Hussein, a Qatari retired professor of music and oud, praised the organisation of the event in all respects, including the oud maker exhibition and the daily performances. However, he suggested that oud exhibition should have kept sound proof enclosures for customers to test the instruments in a perfect manner.
Yakoub Jassim, a participating oud maker from Kuwait, stressed that the event was organised in all the details and the turnout of customers and enthusiasts was extraordinary all through the festival. "I believe it is one of the best in its category and even ahead of many other similar events. This is my third time participating in the event and everything went more than fine from the first moment. People in Doha are welcoming and appreciate authentic and original music," he pointed out.
Ahmed Finjan, a musician from Iraq who participated at the festival opening, described the venue and theatre as highly equipped and well-organised. Besides, he said, the audience displayed great appreciation and respect for the music. He also hoped that the next editions of the festival would be grander, with more bands and performers due its growing popularity and success.
The participating oud makers pointed out that they have been keen to bring to Doha their best as it has been clear to them that the country celebrates diversity and cultures, where people of different tastes, preferences and inclinations meet together in harmony and mutual respect. They said that different varieties of oud could easily find good customers, compared to other places. Prices of a high-quality oud start at $1,000 and goes higher according to the maker, brand and preferences of the buyers and normally the quality of the sound. The makers said that they event was a good and rewarding opportunity, where they exchanged experience, gained new customers and opened an excellent market for their special products, expressing their strong desire for more future participation in Doha.

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