Global Village promises spectacular events from Oct 5

Global Village, Dubai’s leading family entertainment and cultural attraction, has announced a wealth of exciting and innovative new events and attractions as it’s prepares to open for its 18th season lasting 148 days on 5th October.

This year the event is gearing up to start with a bang as the opening date is just a few days before Global Village celebrates Eid Al Adha and is anticipating tens of thousands of visitors from the UAE and across the region. Special extended opening hours are planned with Global Village being open until 2am from October 10th to 19th and an hour later to 3am on the 14th and 15th.

Speaking at a press conference held at Global Village, the Global Village management team announced details of the exciting new events for the coming season including the unique Fantasy Island funfair concept being brought to the Middle East for the  by specialist UK operator the Mellors Group.

Fantasy Island is the largest of a series of new developments that have been created with children and families in mind that will ensure bigger, better entertainment of all kinds including daily specially developed shows for children.

This year Global Village is promising more entertainment shows than ever before with many events being performed for the first time in the Middle East. These include circus performers from China, street performers from the UK and regular fun packed and colourful parades, coupled with fireworks, fountains with a “son et lumiere” show featuring fire effects and much more.

Already hugely popular for its eating out experience, this year Global Village is extending its dining opportunities with a new look food court and new restaurants that will provide visitors with more choice and opportunities to savour food from around the world. One of the exciting new innovations for this year is the creation of a small themed Thai food court that is expected to generate great excitement among visitors.

Visitors will also find a new look to the park when they arrive with specially designed entrance gates reflecting the rich cultural heritage from Egypt and UK.

Commenting on the forthcoming season, Global Village Executive Director for Operations, Ahmad Hussain bin Essa said: “The Global Village team is proud to announce details of our 18th Season – what will be an eagerly anticipated and spectacular 148 days of world-class attractions, 12,000 entertainment shows, fantastic dining, shopping and family fun featuring a wide range of brand new activities for our visitors from the UAE, the region and around the world.

“The Global Village team has now finalised its preparations and is gearing up to welcome our first visitors on Saturday 5th October to ensure they enjoy a family focused experience at the most popular and widely visited outdoor attraction in the Middle East.  With the Eid Al Adha celebrations commencing just a few days after we open, we are offering special extended opening hours as part of the wider Dubai Government celebrations to ensure that visitors from across the region can maximise their enjoyment of our attractions.

“To support Dubai’s “Eid Al Adha” Festival events we will be opening our doors until 2am from 10th to 19th and on 14th and 15th it will be open until 3am to allow our guests to savour the special Eid spirit and festivities until the early hours.”

Global Village management is confident that visitors will find their ticket better value than ever before when they visit this season.  Entry tickets for the coming season are priced at AED 15 for adults, with children under 3, individuals with special needs and people over 65 entering for free.

Global Village will run a number of special promotions and deliver value added special offers throughout the season the season including funfair vouchers. Every entry ticket also includes a raffle coupon for the Audi A4 car prize draw with 16 chances to win a car.

New attractions and new countries

Global Village prides itself on bringing fresh, innovative and international quality events to every new season and this year visitors are in for something special.

Families will love the new funfair concept that is being introduced called “Fantasy Island” that will feature 36 rides and skill games with instant rewards. It will feature themed wooden decking and deliver a classic “Coney Island” fairground atmosphere and environment that has never been seen before in the Middle East.

It is being brought to Global Village by UK fairground specialist operator Mellors who have over 100 years experience and have put funfairs in place for the London Olympics and to support the celebrations of the wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton.

The specially themed and created children’s entertainment programme also features a number of unique attractions including the Moshi Monster and Fairy Tales on Ice featuring Aladdin, Snow White and Pinocchio among other hugely popular characters. There will also be special conceptualized children’s shows programmed by London-based Entertainment Company – that features 2 shows a day six days a week through the season.

Meanwhile the Global Village commitment to becoming more “global” every year has been achieved once again for the 2013-2014 season with the addition of Germany, Italy and France. It means this year there will be 30 pavilions in Global Village with more than 65 countries now represented from every continent as its cultural reach and diversity continues to steadily grow.

These also include a pavilion established for the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation that is participating based on its vision which is “pioneering initiatives for welfare” through supporting vocational projects in the UAE. The Foundation is participating this year by showcasing handcrafts and products that can fit the budget of every family.

In addition to the pavilions and new national representations visitors can sample a colourful and truly international selection of handmade goods, artifacts and tasty goodies from 170 kiosks at Global Village adding colour and vibrancy to the event.

This season Global Village will also hold 16 weekly draws to give visitors the chance to win a new Audi A4. The first draw will commence on the 10th of October of 2013 and will continue on a weekly basis until the end of the park’s operational season except during the Dubai Shopping Festival period.

At this time DSF will exclusively conduct their draw in Global Village during 32 days of the Festival.  The Global Village draws will be conducted on weekends and people can participate in the draw simply by using their entry tickets bought at the gate.   

Eating out

The Global Tradition of international dining offers a real treat for visitors this season with over 25 restaurants from all over the world that will feature a new look food court.

The new food court area is located close to the very popular canal feature that will feature cuisine from around the world and a newly created “Thai Food Court” within the larger. In a change to previous years food will no longer be served in pavilions and will be available at restaurants and snack kiosks located around the Global Village area.  

“Eating out is always a real treat for our visitors every year and this year we are confident that the culinary aspect of Global Village will be stronger giving our visitors to savour food from all over the world,” said Mr. Ahmed Hussain bin Essa.

He also thanked this year’s official sponsors and partners for Global Village who include for this season Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Coca Cola, Baskin Robbins and Emirates Water.

Global Village – a catalyst for tourism growth in Dubai

The Global Village management team also told reporters that the new attractions and entertainment on offer will strengthen the park’s importance to helping the growth of tourism in Dubai and support the ambition of the Emirate of Dubai to attract 20 million visitors by 2020.

It will also be running special themed events to correspond with major festivals and celebrations during the season – for Eid Al Adha, Diwali, National Day, Christmas and other festivals during the operational season.

“Global Village remains a major tourism attraction where the world comes together to savour an amazing family entertainment and cultural attraction.

It also plays a vital role as a catalyst for Dubai’s ongoing growth as a major tourism attraction for regional and international visitors while offering a great day out for local residents,” explained Executive Director of Operations Ahmed Hussain bin Essa.

Global Village is one of Dubai’s biggest brands and tourism destinations, with a team of over 10,000 people ensuring the delivery of a fantastic experience for visitors over its 5 month season. It welcomes nearly five million visitors a year and is regarded as one of the region’s most popular homegrown tourism and cultural leisure brands.

Located on the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed highway for ease of access, the Global Village has parking space for 17,000 cars.

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