Kaushalendra Singh -
SALALAH, JULY 5 -
Monsoon has started settling down in Salalah as there has been moderate to heavy drizzling daily from the day the Salalah Tourism Festival (STF) opened.
The festival venue in Itin has started attracting people from across world.
The happiest among all the visitors here are the children, who have many options in the festival ground to get entertained and make holes sometime, in the pockets of their parents for the choice of rides available there.
Thus the parking lot closer to the gate leading to these rides, has maximum number of vehicles parked every day.
“We had done a deal with all our four children before coming to the festival ground that each one of them would get maximum of two rides.
“They had agreed also but after coming here and finishing two rides, they started asking for more and more after seeing so many interesting ones.
“Each of them tried not less than six rides making us perturbed and happy at the same time,” said Eman, a resident of Awqad.
The Fun City, where the rides are located, has usual offerings of carousels, merry-go-rounds, whirligigs, flying horses, roller coasters and roundabouts.
There are rides for all age groups from toddlers to adults with an appetite for thrill and excitement.
Visitors can also try their luck winning some prizes in a wide selection of skill games offered here.
There is an exclusive area for children at the festival venue.
Here some activity or the other is organised every day.
Right at the entrance there is a counter for face painting to attract the children. But the aim here is to educate children.
“The visiting children are given some theme painting... The children get excited over the idea. Finally they are given some gifts after some games for their participation,” said Nariman Sami, who has designed the game modules and stage for the children programmes.
The Kid Zone remains open from 5 pm to 11 pm daily.
Sami has a team of six trained resource persons who organise different events for the children daily.
Sami hopes to do as much as possible for the children coming to the Kid Zone and is happy over the response of children and their parents. “The parents here are really concerned about quality of offerings. I appreciate their participation in children programmes, as this gives the parents a better understanding of their children’s qualities and limitations.”
Parents generally are happy with the variety being offered at the Kid Zone.
Some of them, however, are not very happy over the location.“Not many visitors know about the activities being performed in this area due to its location. It is located in the extreme end of the ground.
“The organisers should have planned such events somewhere in the middle of the festival ground to attract more and more children,” said a parent.
— Photos by Hamed al Khatiri
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