Muscat: The residents of Qurum suburb will heave a sigh of relief with the Muscat Municipality’s decision to drop Qurum Natural Park as one of the venues for the month-long Muscat Festival, to be held from January 30 to February 28.
According to the Muscat Festival website, two new venues have been added this time, besides a three-day fashion show at the Riyam Park and the Tour of Oman cycling race that will crisscross parts of the country.
Every year, residents of the posh Qurum suburb endure traffic and parking nightmares for an entire month, especially around the Qurum Nature Park, also known as Rose Garden. However, this year, the Heritage and Culture Village has moved to Amerat Park in the outskirts of Muscat and Qurum residents are relieved.
Also, unlike in the past, entry to Amerat Park will be free of charge. However, there will be an entry fee of 200 baizas per adult and 100 baizas per child at the Naseem Park and Baushar Stadium.
For the first time, Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex at Baushar will be one of the three venues for the annual event that focuses on giving visitors a peek into the country’s heritage and culture.
Meanwhile, Municipality officials announced details of the fashion show to be held as part of the Muscat Festival, dedicated to the Year of the Child in Oman, at Riyam Park from January 15-17.
The Municipality has invited 12 designers from seven Arab countries for the event that will be held before the Festival starts. The third edition of the Muscat Fashion Show will showcase collections of designers from Oman, Tunisia, the UAE, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as well as models from the Arab world.
Omani designers Nawal Al Hooti and Dibaj will showcase their designs along with some of the known Arab names like Toujouri of Qatar, Zhor Rais of Morocco, Razan Alazzouni of Saudi Arabia and Kanzi of UAE.
The fourth Tour of Oman cycling race, to be held from February 11-16 as part of the Festival, will be held over 938.5 kilometres and will encompass routes from Musanah in the north to Hawiyat Najam Park (sink hole) in the east.
