Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Whether you’re enjoying this year’s Muscat Festival in Amerat or at Naseem Gardens, as the clock begins to tick towards 8:30pm, it isn’t uncommon to see people congregating in droves at one particular spot.
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In the centre of the amusement park rides at Naseem Gardens and assembled around Amerat Park, Oman’s residents wait with restrained excitement for the daily evening fireworks spectacle. Although it’s only on for about 15 minutes, it has left a lasting impression on visitors to the festival.
“I drove all the way from Darsait because my children wanted to see the fireworks,” said Nasser, who’d come for the festival with his wife and two children. “It may have been a long drive, but they’re so happy and they can’t stop talking about it afterwards.”
While fireworks of different shapes and sizes light up the sky, chiefly in the red, white and green colours of the Sultanate’s national flag, on the ground, the show is characterised by a large number of people capturing these moments for posterity on their smartphones, tapping away as they share images and videos of the spectacle on social media.
A few of the more artistically inclined, though, come armed with professional cameras, and even, in one instance, a tripod and video camera setup.
“It’s nice to see the organisers of Muscat Festival put on a show for us every day,” said Atif, a Pakistani expatriate. “We don’t live in the best of times right now because of the economic condition in the country, but it’s nice to come here and forget our troubles for a while.
“I’ve been coming to the Muscat Festival for five years now and it’s always a nice place to come to, even if it has been shortened this year,” added his friend Saif.
“It’s good to see so many people come here and become a part of the event.” The Muscat Festival runs from the 19th of January to the 11th of February, at the Amerat Park and Naseem Gardens and gates are open to the public from 4pm to 11pm. Entry for adults is priced at a very reasonable 200 baisas, while children have to pay just a 100 baisas to get in.
For more information, please visit www.muscat-festival.com
