(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
By Raynald C Rivera
DOHA: This year";s Qatar Summer Festival (QSF) being organised by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has earned praise from visitors for putting up the biggest Entertainment City which is accessible and with diverse offerings and new attractions.
The amusement centre at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC) has witnessed hundreds of visitors, mostly families, enjoying a variety of rides and games, especially the new ones.
For a QR15 entry fee, people can enjoy several free games and features such as the virtual reality game, mobile games and photo booth.
'I have never seen the photo booth previously in the festival and I think this is what many people like because they want to keep something to remember,” said Raj, one of the visitors who took a photo with his wife at the booth.
The photo, which contains the festival logo, can be printed and taken by visitors as souvenir from the Entertainment City.
'On a daily basis we print between 500 and more than 600 all for free, but today we expect more than 1,000 because it is Friday,” Noel Dale Tanco, Technical Officer at Atelier 101, told this daily.
Virtual reality and Qatari-made mobile games Khalifa Dive and Khalifa Run were among the crowd-pulling free games at the festival, by Doha-based digital development and events company Atelier 101.
'We allow each one to have up to three snapshots and two virtual reality games.
'But when it gets busy we limit them to give chance to those in the queue,” added Tanco.
Go Kart has been a magnet for young racing enthusiasts and the city is witnessing long queues to try the QR30 ride daily.
'I never miss to try Go Karting whenever there";s a chance. This is my favourite so far at the festival,” said Mahmoud, after his third ride yesterday.
New skill games are also a big draw, such as The Human Claw Box, which draws inspiration from claw machine arcade game, but instead of claw a person is suspended over the boxes which contain prizes he has to capture in 90 seconds with the help of another player manipulating a joystick.
'It is an exciting and challenging game that requires skill which many visitors like to experience,” said Iman, a representative of the Dubai-based company operating the game. Because of the high ceiling of the venue, organisers are able to bring high games, including Flavio Slide which also saw long queues of children who enjoyed the 26-metre-long and 10-metre-high classic slide ride.
People thronged other amusement rides such as City Hopper and Crazy Wave to family rides such as caterpillar, carousel and bumper cars, in addition to inflatable slides and water games. Dozens of arcade and life-size games also attracted large crowds.
Hundreds of families flocked to the entertainment stage which featured a variety of shows, including The Smurfs, Arabic mascots and Ardha performers, among others.
There is a food court with 26 stalls selling different dishes such as Arabic, Indian, American and Chinese cuisines.
Compared to the previous festival venue, DECC is far more accessible in terms of location and parking area which can accommodate nearly 3,000 cars, according to visitors.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce";s recent decision to regulate car parking charges has resulted in more affordable parking fees at DECC which has been welcomed by visitors.
The Peninsula