Sunday 22 / June / 2025
Muscat: The weekend’s nearly here! It’s so close you can almost taste it. With Friday just around the corner, Times of Oman has a handy list of things for you to do over the weekend.
Head out to the Muscat Festival
The annual Muscat Festival ends on 9 February, 2019, and before the crowds decide to sample the festival on the final day of the weekend, this could be your opportunity to take the family with you and enjoy the festival at your own leisure.
Your children are sure to love the thrill of the rollercoasters at Naseem Garden, as well as the myriad other rides and carnival games that have been set up for them, so it might not be a bad idea to spend Friday evening there.
On Saturday, head to Amerat, where several cultural shows and fairs are in town. Your kids won’t mind: they would’ve burned off all of their energy the previous evening.
Catch a show and some fireworks
While you’re at Muscat Festival, don’t forget to miss out on the daily fireworks display every night. No matter how old we get, the familiar whoosh-bang of a firework still excites us all.
There are also a number of special shows being put on at the Muscat Festival stage in Amerat, so once you’ve seen what the festival has this year, why not grab a bite to eat and then settle down for the show?
Cheer for your team at the Asian Cup Final
Qatar play Japan in the final of the 2019 Asian Cup, which kicks off at 6pm on Friday evening. The game does promise to be an exciting one: Japan are the favourites, having won the tournament four times since it first began, but the Qataris have been the surprise package of the competition.
They’ve surprised favourites South Korea and hosts United Arab Emirates, trouncing the latter 4-0 in Abu Dhabi in the semi-finals, and with the GCC nation looking to impress when they host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, they will be searching for their first Asian Cup triumph
Watch one of the new movie releases this weekend
If you’re the sort of person who needs his flick fix this weekend, there are many new releases for you to watch.
Starring Samuel Jackson, James McAvoy and Bruce Willis, Glass is earning some rave reviews in theatres, as is the Bollywood movie Manikarnika, the story of the Queen of Jhansi, who rose up against British occupation in colonial India.
Kevin Hart, Nicole Kidman and Bryan Cranston starrer The Upside is a beautiful movie about how a quadriplegic man bonds with his caregiver, but the truly emotional movie this weekend has to be A Dog’s Way Home, which tells the tale of a dog that travels 4,000 miles to find his owners.
The latest edition of How to Train Your Dragon is also out in theatres, as are a number of regional movies.
Road trip with your friends and family
The weekend is a time for us to forget our troubles, but what better way to forget them than to leave it all behind? The weather is still amazing this time of the year, and Oman has some amazing roads, so this weekend, head out onto the asphalt.
If you want a dose of sun, sea and sand, then head to Sohar this weekend, but if you want a walk into history, then Nizwa in the Dahkiliyah Governorate is your location of choice. Ras Al Hadd, the Middle East’s westernmost point, is home to Oman’s turtle species, while the Bimmah Sinkhole and Wadi Dayqah Dam are must-sees for everyone.
All in all, there’s plenty to do this weekend. How will you be spending it?
