A major entertainment and shopping festival, Magical Festival Village, completely designed and implemented by Qatari companies, just kicked off last weekend. Embracing a completely new idea, the Village, located at Katara, comes wrapped in a suburban European architecture style. It offers a combination of entertainment and shopping in a joyful and happy atmosphere that spreads on 40,000 sq m area. The festival will run for three months.
It is going to host many firsts. The Village proposes a number of events and entertainment activities, such as 400 shopping boutiques introducing products from 20 countries, for the first time in Qatar. It will also host various discount seasons on the most famous global brands. The facility offers about 20 restaurants and cafes in its centre and corners, expected to increase and reach 40 by mid-march, in order to provide visitors with more tables and culinary options.
“We have been eager at the Magical Festival Village to furnish modern entertainment facilities. We have built two entertainment destinations dedicated to families and kids with games that have been brought to Qatar for the first time, such as the outdoors skiing court, the giant trampoline, cart race, special effects cinema, as well as a riddles room,” says Abdulaziz al-Mohannadi, Operations Manager, Magical Festival Village.
The Fort Castle, the Village’s main attraction, has been built to morph into a giant screen displaying exciting movies in 3D Mapping technology, along with technical and mechanical effects bound to take visitors to a whole other world of fun.
In addition to that, a VR studio (Virtual Reality) that teleports kids to where their favourite cartoons have been drawn and formed, using the same effects used in the renowned international studios. The completion of the project took 50 days relying on Qatari companies on all design and implementation aspects, where Qatari cadres oversaw this whole process with the direct support and co-operation of Katara Cultural Village management.
Walkways and narrow streets of the Village are not only enjoyable and beautifully designed but will also serve as an open art gallery, displaying handmade artworks of the most important international artists. They will turn into an museum, especially at night with the Lantern Garden softly lighting every corner. The streets will host free entertainment activities such as daily carnivals, musical corners, and a plethora of other shows that will pop up to surprise visitors.
A number of festivals have been already scheduled. Some of these include, the Smart Science Festival that encourages the innovation mindset in kids and Fantasy and Laughter Festival designed for families. There will be a Chocolate Cupcake Festival around cakes and sweets focusing on not promoting products, but only fun and enjoyment.
In addition, there will Master Chef Arabia Festival with major chefs in Qatar competing directly. It will feature chefs from all around the GCC in its next year’s edition.
There are women only events planned such as Fashion Week, which will host leading designers from the Arab World and beyond.
“Magical Festival Village is the first project of its kind in the region characterised by an open nature that makes its visitors enjoy the winter weather. We are working on the annual form, where it will be held every year, effective from October of each year to the end of May,” says al-Mohannadi.
CEO of Ezdan Holding Group Ali al-Obaidli said that their partnership in the project stems from the desire to create a stronger communication with the community. “We seek this through projects that would provide an exclusive family shopping and entertainment outlet over a large area,” said al-Obaidli. He added that the Group’s decision to enter this strategic partnership is derived from its approach towards investing in the entertainment sector, especially malls.
The Group has been very successful, in a relatively short period of time, in building and managing malls. Ezdan owns three malls with a total area of about 195,000sq m.
Al-Obaidli stressed that Ezdan Holding Group is in the works to inaugurate Ezdan Mall in Al Wakrah during this year. This is the largest mall the Group owns, with an area of 75,600 sq m, it is expected to be a quantum leap in the malls sector for being the biggest commercial centre in the vital and population dense area of Al Wakrah.
Al-Obaidli explained that this strategic partnership is the result of the Group’s distinct stake in the company that oversee the festival and organises its events on an annual basis. This company also plans to organise a number of events aimed at stimulating hospitality in the state and contributing to make Qatar one of the best regional tourism destinations, especially for citizens of the GCC.


Related Story