Global Village’s 20th season celebrations offers new surprises and shows for the best guest experience yet!

Highlights include:

• Enhanced guest centric infrastructure
• New iconic entrance – ‘The Gate of The World’

• Expanded grass seating areas
• Expanded line-up of attractions, concerts and entertainment
• Exciting new rides
• Superior dining experience
• New bespoke shows
• New costumer friendly ticketing system
• New pavilions include Russia and Japan and the welcomed return of Indonesia

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 1 November 2015: Global Village, the unique, engaging multicultural festival park for all the family, is returning for its 20^th season from Tuesday, November 3, 2015 until April 9, 2016. Building on the success of previous seasons and in response to customer feedback, the 20^th season is set to be even bigger and better with an enhanced infrastructure and expanded line-up of attractions, concerts and entertainment.

Global Village is a unique, one-stop-shop for shopping, dining, entertainment and funfair. For seasons it has taken its guests on a journey across the world, providing an extravaganza of sights, sounds and smells. Guests experience the hustle and bustle of the bazaars and learn about diverse cultures at Global Village, that bring the ambience of different countries together in one place.

This year, Global Village has made significant improvements 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. There will be new world class and exciting entertainment and cultural activities for each guest to experience.  To add to the customer experience, newly introduced trains with a capacity of 60 passengers each over one journey will operate throughout the day, taking guests from the car park to a new iconic entrance  ‘The Gate of The World”. The new gate ‘Gate of The World’, is the largest gate in Global Village’s history featuring 40 turnstile entrances and 40 ticketing counters.

The main cultural stage area has been enhanced to boost the audio and 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.

Commenting on the forthcoming season Ahmad Hussain bin Essa, Chief Executive Officer at Global Village said: “We cannot wait to open our gates for the public to enjoy Global Village’s 20^th season. We have worked very hard and listened to the customers’ feedback to make sure that we are providing the best entertaining guest experience. Global Village is the ideal destination for both families and individuals from the UAE as well as from across the GCC. There will be a number of new and exciting surprises throughout the season as well as high quality entertainment facilities that will guarantee an unforgettable experience and attract our guests to return again and again.

“From entry to entertainment, shopping and dining, we have kept our guests in mind to offer a new experience for the 20^th season.”

NEW RIDES

Global Village prides itself on bringing new, innovative and international quality events to every new season. This year, it only gets bigger and better with spectacular new rides. This year, the new rides will include: Crazy Golf (Children Ride); Cape fear Ghost Train (Family Ride) and Loop fighter (Thrill Ride). The Fantasy Island will again be operated by the world-class funfair operator Mellors Entertainment. They have operated high profile attractions in the heart of London and other venues and have worked in the business for over 100 years.

EATING OUT

Cuisines from around the world are represented by 20 restaurants. Guests are invited to take a culinary journey across the globe and explore an array of delicious flavours. From street food to restaurant cuisine, there will be 100 themed food and beverage kiosks. This will include a new dining experience with 20 restaurants providing guests with an unparalleled culinary experience. Guest can grab a bite at one of the many stalls and relax in the park or visit one of the many restaurants. Guests will furthermore be able to relax in multi storey restaurants while experiencing the views of the canal and pavilions. In addition, every Thursday and Friday, guests can witness the fantastic fireworks display, which will alight the sky.

PAVILLIONS

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 welcomed return of Indonesia. There has further been some changes to the façades of pavilions to add a fresh and exciting feel to the guest experience at Global Village.

The pavilions taking part in Global Village will be Afghanistan; Africa; Americas; Bahrain; Cambodia; China; Egypt; Germany, UK, France; Tunisia; India; Iraq; Italy; Jordan; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Lebanon; Malaysia; Morocco; Pakistan; Philippines; Qatar; Spain; Singapore; Syria; Thailand; Turkey; UAE; Vietnam, and Yemen, in addition to Khalifa Foundation and Forsati pavilions.

CONCERTS

Musicians and singers from all over the world will gather at Global Village to put on spectacular shows, all for the price of a Global Village entry ticket at AED 15. 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, to further enhance the guest experience, Global Village has introduced new and innovative ways for guests to purchase their tickets to the park. Tickets can now be bought online or on a Global Village smartphone application. New 40 ticketing counters have also been introduced at the ‘Gate of The World’. Ticket entry prices will remain AED 15 for adults and free entry for children under three. People with a disability and adults over 65 years receive free entry as well.

ENTERTAINMENT (NEW SHOWS)

Global Village will have a wide array of spectacular entertainment offerings that will excite and astonish the guests throughout the season. From cultural shows across the globe to dancing fountains and breath-taking stunt shows, Global Village has it all. Guests will be able to relax and catch a show in the park or be vowed by a visit to the main cultural stage and new amphitheatre. There will be a wide variety of family friendly shows and entertainment with never before seen artists interacting and entertaining the guests leaving a lasting memory. There will be a regularly changing schedule of shows and entertainment and guest are encouraged to visit globalvillage.æ to discover what’s on offer. Some of the key acts will include:

STAGE SHOWS

There will be two unique high end production shows created specifically for Global Village based on cultural aspects. These are Fiestaval and Dreams, which are supported by spectacular street actors and performers from all over the world.

Fiestaval will take the guests on an exciting journey across five of the most amazing festivals from around the world. It will chart the journey of three Dr. Seuss-style characters, each with their own individual traits and personalities. Together they will travel across five festivals around the world for families to enjoy all on one stage.

Dreams will be the kids favourite with famous characters such as Genie and Princess Jasmine. It will take them on a voyage full of adventure with the well-know One Thousand and One Arabian Nights stories. This spectacular show will display top quality effects, which will transform the stage into one of Arabian Nights magical stories.

STREET SHOWS

One particular street  stage show highlight will see the LED Mono-velos. Guests at Global Village will witness the unique illuminated monocycles with riders dressed in futuristic silver and white jump suits. These mono-velos will allow guests to capture very special moments especially on a busy Global Village evening. The street acts will include other never seen before characters that liven the guest experience touching every person in the family.

CULTURAL SHOWS

The Bollywood musical will be a full, colourful, over the top and very fancy Bollywood concept featuring The Khans of Bollywood and Bollywood Wedding shows.

South America cultures will be represented with an explosion of music and dance performance on a 20 minute medley of songs, from across the region making this a truly unforgettable event.

STUNT SHOWS

There will be a number of stunt shows throughout the season which include a ‘Hollywood Stunt Show’ where  car breath-taking chase and bike stunt and action scenes show like no other. For the first time Global Village will showcase how Hollywood stunts are done! ‘The Jet Ski show’ will also see an extreme waters sports show with synchronized jet skis and fly surfers guaranteed to leave guests amazed. The UFO show will be another bespoke show for Global Village with laser lights and pryo techniques. The main aerialist along with other performers will rotate, bungee and perform acrobatics for an extensive range of performances, acrobatic dances and exciting shows that promise to make it a day to remember.

Global Village season 20 is organised in sponsorship and supported by the renowned partners of Kalyan, Emirates Islamic Bank, Pepsi, Visa, Masafi,  OSN, DMI and ARN.