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Some 2,500 baskets filled with colourful flowers have been arranged for a show called Al Ain Paradise, which opened on Saturday evening in Zakhir district. Image Credit: Aftab Kazmi/Gulf News

Al Ain: The Oasis city has achieved another international landmark by organising an exhibit of hanging flower baskets in a number that has never been displayed anywhere in the world. It is aimed at entering the city in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some 2,500 baskets filled with colourful flowers have been arranged in a fabulous way in the show called Al Ain Paradise. It opened to Saturday evening in the Zakhir district, arranged by Akar Landscaping Services and Agriculture with the support of Al Ain Municipality.

It took Akar Landscaping some 90 days to arrange the show and the officials from the Guinness World Records testify the record in the ceremony that was attended by a number of Shaikhs, government functionaries, and a large number of people living in the city.

This is yet another occasion the city has emerged on the international arena with respect to flowers.  Al Ain, which is known as the oasis city of the emirates, has earlier twice won second position in the Nations in Bloom – an international competition to select leading cities around the globe for good landscape management and environmental practices.

Every year in the Spring Season, the city wears an attire of millions of flowers blooming all around. The civic administration was also regularly organising until recently an annual spring festival to appreciate and encourage people involved in gardening, horticulture, and landscaping.

Abdel Naser Rahhal, General Manager of Akar Landscaping, said the display marks the start of the spring season. “We are very excited to take on this record challenge and share our beautiful landscaping designs with the world – hopefully people will visit us and enjoy the view.”

He said the vertical landscaping technologies have been used to create the 2,500 flower baskets that have set a brand new world record by a safe margin. Al Ain Paradise covers an area of 70,000 square meters, including the corridors and walkways. The baskets are off different types and shapes with many kinds of flowers.

A six metres high tower of flower baskets, a 12-meter high replica of the Eiffel Tower, colourful decorative lights, and more than 50 pyramids of flowers presents a pleasing view. A waterfall has also been made to enhance the looks of the garden.

Rahhal said the some 25 varieties of flowers from America, Europe, Japan, Germany, and Italy have been used in the show.

Pictures of His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Shaikh Tahnoon Bin Mohammad Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Eastern Region, have also been displayed.

Akar is a leading instrument in the city’s acclaimed landscaping and green environmental achievement. It is engaged with many projects with the municipality including the landscaping and maintenance of Al Ain’s top tourism hotspot. People who love flowers and want to visit the garden can obtain more information by logging on to www.alainparadise.com