Thousands visit festival venues over three days

Long queues were seen outside the Amerat Park and Naseem Gardens to see the festival. The Muscat Municipality has lined up a variety of cultural and traditional events both for adults and children. The Amerat Park is seeing several shows such as acrobatic events, awareness programmes, blood donation camps, various contests and recreation programmes for children. In addition, the venues also have cartoon characters roaming around to attract children. Food courts too were packed till late in the evening.

Abdullah Khamis, a businessman from Sohar who has set up his stall at the Heritage Village in Amerat Park said, “The Heritage Village has been my favourite place since a few years. We get good response here as people are eager to try perfumes made of original frankincense from Salalah. One can witness the real Oman here. The first three days have been good.”

Tanya, an Indian child at the festival said she was quite excited to see the fireworks. “Last year we came to the festival for five days and I loved the fireworks display.” Her father Abhishek added, “The entry fee is very reasonable and it is a family place where we can enjoy and learn more about the culture of this country.”

Some of the events to watch out for at the Amerat Park include the International Exhibition Centre, fireworks, theatre shows, electronic games and science museum. At the Naseem Gardens, visitors can enjoy some of the best amusement rides and take a look at the enthralling Jurassic Park with ten different types of dinosaurs on display.

An official from the Muscat Municipality said, “A lot of families visited the parks and the response has been great so far. We have beefed up the security, installed more CCTV cameras, increased the number of washrooms and volunteers. The officials are always on hand in case of any assistance or crisis.” The tickets cost 200bz for adults and 100bz for children. (Entry is free for Omani children). The festival concludes on February 10.