Iconic Lebanese singer Samira Tawfik made her first stage appearance in years last week when she surprised unsuspecting audiences at the 2016 Souq Waqif Spring Festival in Qatar's Doha.
The festival is one of Qatar's most prominent cultural events, it is annually held in Doha's historic Souq Waqif. The century-old market, which was restored in 2006, is one of the capital's main tourist attractions and is famous for its traditional Arab goods and cultural activities.
During the last week of the festival, Tawfik performed two concerts that included some of her most famous songs such as "Asmar Ya Helw," "Bayn Al-Asr Wa Al-Maghrib" and her most popular song "Ya Ein Molayatain."
The singer, who was born in Syria and grew up in Beirut, gained prominence for singing in the Bedouin dialect of Jordan, a unique musical style that separated her from other iconic Lebanese singers of her time such as Fairouz and Sabah.
Tawfik, who would often wear outfits inspired by Bedouin clothing for her performances, is largely credited with popularizing Bedouin culture in the Arab World. She is also credited with bringing Jordanian music to a larger audience.
In many of her songs, the singer paid homage to Jordan, where her career took off in the 1960s after she started working for the country's national radio broadcast. She has worked with some of the Arab World's most prominent composers such as Elias El-Rahbani and Melhem Barakat.
In addition to singing, Tawfik also enjoyed an acting career during which she appeared in more than Arab 10 films during the 1960s and 1970s.