Global Village begins: Guide to free train rides, stunts, fireworks, online tickets

Dubai’s Global Village, the region’s favourite family entertainment and cultural destination, will begin its 20th anniversary season tomorrow, November 3, 2015, and will run for more than five months, until April 9, 2016. Organisers said yesterday the destination attracted 5 million visitors during the last season, and the 20th season will be even bigger and better with enhanced infrastructure and an expanded line-up of concerts and entertainment. The new attractions this year include free train rides from parking to entrance, new country pavilions (including Russia and Japan), multi-storey restaurants, car chases and bike stunts, street acts by riders atop LED-lit monocycles, new stage shows, and new rides at the Fantasy Island, among others. In a media statement, organisers said Global Village has made significant improvements this year to provide the best guest experience. Starting from the guest-centric infrastructure enhancements and facilities to exciting new shows and artists, to the new pavilions and countries being represented. Newly introduced trains will operate throughout the day, taking guests to and from the car park to the new entrance ‘The Gate of The World’ for free. Each train has a capacity of 60 passengers. The new ‘Gate of The World’ is the largest gate in Global Village’s history featuring 40 turnstile entrances and 40 ticketing counters. For 20 seasons, Global Village has taken guests on a journey across the world, providing an extravaganza of sights, sounds and smells. This year, the ‘Main Cultural Stage’ has been enhanced to boost the audio/visual experience for the crowd. No matter where you are standing, you will feel as if you are in the front row. In addition, the expanded grass seating areas will create a much more relaxed and comfortable environment where families and friends can bring a picnic or just enjoy the entertainment. “We cannot wait to open our gates for the public to enjoy Global Village’s 20th season. We have worked very hard and listened to our guests’ feedback to make sure that we provide them with the best entertaining experience over 159 days,” said Ahmad Hussain bin Essa, CEO at Global Village. Bin Essa highlighted that the 20th season enhancements come in line with the five-year strategic development plan. This has been introduced by Global Village in line with Dubai’s Tourism vision for 2020 with the key objective of attracting more visitors to the Emirate with a particular focus on family tourism. “There will be a number of new and exciting surprises throughout the season as well as high quality entertainment facilities,’’ he said. “From entry to entertainment, shopping and dining, we have kept our guests in mind to offer a new experience for the 20th season.” New rides at the Fantasy Island The Fantasy Island will return and once again will be operated by Mellors Entertainment, a global funfair operator. This season, it gets bigger and better with new rides including Crazy Golf (Children Ride); Cape fear Ghost Train (Family Ride) and Loop fighter (Thrill Ride). Eating Out Cuisines from around the world are represented by 20 restaurants in addition to 100 themed food and beverage kiosks. Further, visitors may relax in multi-storey restaurants while enjoying the views of the canal and the pavilions. In addition, every Thursday and Friday, guests can witness the fantastic fireworks display, which will alight the sky. 32 Pavilions This year, there are 32 pavilions, with more than 75 countries being represented. New pavilions participating for the first time are Russia and Japan, with the return of Indonesia and Palestine. All pavilion façades have been redesigned to provide better representation of the culture and heritage of their respective countries. The pavilions taking part in Global Village will be Afghanistan; Africa; America; Bahrain; China; Egypt; France, Germany and UK pavilion; Tunisia; India; Indonesia; Iraq; Iran; Italy; Japan; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Lebanon; Morocco; Pakistan; Palestine; Philippines; Qatar; Russian; Spain; Malaysia and Singapore pavilion; Syria; Thailand; Turkey; UAE; and Yemen, in addition to Khalifa Foundation and Fursati pavilions. Concerts Musicians and singers from all over the world will gather at Global Village to put on spectacular shows, all included within the Global Village entry ticket. Guests will be able to watch world-class and live musical performances of Arabic, Far Eastern, Indian, Afghani, and African artists and performers throughout the season. Artists are to include: Strings, Saad Lamjarrad, Fares Karam, Balqees, Mohamed Assaf, Shreya Goshal and Abdullah Ruwaishid. Tickets This year, Global Village has introduced new ways for guests to purchase tickets, including the option to buy tickets online or on a Global Village smartphone application. New 40 ticketing counters have also been introduced at the ‘The Gate of The World’. Ticket entry prices will remain Dh15 for adults and free entry for child