Ein Prosit! Oktoberfest in Doha

Wait- Oktoberfest? In a Muslim country? Come again?

Yep- you read right. As far as I can gather, there are two major expat entertainment events here in Doha- Dunestock (an open air music festival and party) and Oktoberfest at the Intercontinetal Hotel. I didn't attend Dunestock last April because of a sand storm and I hadn't arrived in Doha yet for Oktoberfest last year, so I jumped at the chance to attend Oktoberfest this year. Darbi managed to snag the last two tickets for last night's festival. And what a party.

600 expats, crammed into the tent that the Intercontinetal had used for their Ramadan events (little ironic), complete with Bavarian blue and white, an Oompah band, and lots of beer. There was plenty of good German food (all beef sausage of course) to be enjoyed on long communal tables. And when the band and crowd wasn't cheering 'Tony' along to drink 12 litres of beer (we think it was water/beer or apple juice), there was dancing on the benches. And there was a lot of dancing. We partied from 8 pm to around 12:30 am. And for Doha- that's huge. The evening would be considered a lot of fun anywhere in the world, but for it to happen in Doha, where all this was certainly 'haraam' (forbidden), it somehow made it even more fun. Happy October everyone!