MOST visitors to Dubai coincide their visit with the Dubai Shopping Festival, with its whirl of activities, promos and prizes ... the theme being "One World, One Family, One Festival". Nothing illustrates this better than the Global Village.
Three years ago when I visited the site of the Global Village, near Garoudh, it was spread over acres of land, and walking was irksome on uneven land. The Global Village, now at its permanent new site in Dubailand, is spread across 17.2 million sq.ft. Its paved walkways, comfortable little benches, and eateries scattered all over make it a pleasurable experience, alongwith its representation of 46 countries, 54 restaurants and 75 kiosks for companies all over the world. Ibrahim Abdul Rahim, Global Village Director, talks about the special features incorporated into the new site ... a 6,000-capacity amphitheatre, a car park to accomodate 15,000 cars, and a 4,000-sq.m man-made lake where musical fountain shows take place every evening. Buses ply to the Global Village from various sections of the city, and cycle rickshaws take you from the car park to the entrance at a charge of 10 Dhs (1Dh or dirham is equivalent to Rs.11.09).
Window to the world
The Global Village is a little window to the world for a rich cultural experience. Where else can you shop for Czech crystal, consider African masks while you sip strong Turkish coffee, splurge on exotic Italian jewellery, bite into delicious German bread, Lebanese salads, Japanese sushi, watch ethnic carpet weavers at work, figure out Egyptian calligraphy, or experiment with the range of cuisine, all while being treated to live performances, all under one roof?
From the usual 32 days the Global Village has been extended to 79 days with five million people thronging the pavilions till the last day. It is not possible to take in the Global Village in one go. If you are an art and craft enthusiast, you will want to visit the site more than once, initially selecting the pavilions you would like to visit.
Centuries old Maori culture comes alive in the New Zealand pavilion while aboriginal art from Australia reflects the country's ethnic flavour. An eye-catching pavilion was the Moroccan one, with its plethora of lamps known as the Fawanees each incredibly different in shape and colour, both old and new ranging from Dh 30 to Dh 1,800! Senegal was mind boggling with its variety of masks, beads and little black figures holding spears and the exotic yardage of traditional fabric. The polished gourds with ethnic carving were irresistible buys at the South African stall.
First time participants were the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Greece, Qatar, Nigeria, Japan, Cambodia, Poland, Nepal and the Kyrgyz Republic. The Syrian pavilion, which has won the best pavilion award four times, had a breathtaking replica of the Omayyad Mosque, complete with the intricate lattice windows, carved doors and stained glass décor. Walk into the pavilion and you drink in the ambience of a traditional Damascus courtyard house and look at replicas of ancient souqs.
India's pavilion
"The `Indian Pavilion' is the backbone of the Global Village", says Sunil Bhatia, organiser of the "Indian Pavilion" (besides a few others) and managing partner of the E4 Entertainment. This year, 300 stalls were accommodated within the 1,30,000 sq.ft pavilion. The theme was Karnataka, with the Mysore Palace replicated, complete with the extravaganza which is a part of the Dussehra celebrations. The showpiece was the ruins of Hampi. India bagged two awards including the "Best Pavilion Award", as it did last year. The mehndi artiste draws crowds of women, and the aroma of coffee wafts towards you, freshly brewed from the best of South Indian coffee beans.
The Kacchi Ghodi Rajasthan band entertains you while the traditional dhol is played.
You are distracted by acrobats and circus performers and watch little chubby cheeked children clapping their hands with sheer joy. The fire-fighters perform their act and race round the pavilion, the bangle sellers have a field day showing off their colourful wares. As we walk down, stilt performers sway to music and dance in their colourful flowing costumes much to the delight of the onlookers. A spell of rain and they run despite their stilts to save their costumes.
When television star Jassi (Mona Singh) made her appearance, she drew huge crowds to the "Indian Pavilion", quizzing the audience and presenting prizes. Other attractions are the raffles. Spend anything as little as 20Dhs, and you are entitled to a ticket which might win you, hold your breath, a Chevrolet car! The lucky winners took away nine Chevvys!
The curtains came down with a colourful ceremony with dignitaries on stage, and the awarding of prizes. India, which had the largest pavilion, bagged two awards, and Kenya and Morocco took the next two places. The "Global Village World" Awards honoured seven categories, including print journalism, media and photography. Over 400 children participated in the Indian Republic Day parade.
What is planned for the coming year seems ambitious, but knowing the efficiency of the organisers, it would be no empty dream. The Global Village would be an event which would run from January to May before becoming a round-the-year and a great tourist attraction for visitors to Dubai.