Al Qasba Food Festival 2008 attracts crowds with fantastic entertainment events

Tailored to provide great fun for children as well as adults, the many shows lined up are keeping the audience enthralled with the variety of performances.

With special shows brought in from Italy, Poland and Russia especially for the Al Qasba Food Festival, visitors are kept agog with the number of street performers, parades, carnival, stage shows, stilt walkers, and the great chicken comic act roaming the location.

The main stage circus, dancing and acrobatic shows performed daily from 9.30pm to 10.30pm are proving to be crowd pullers this year thanks to some fantastic performers and the shows' interactive nature.

Special shows with interactive games and gifts for each participant from the audience have also been brought in for the Festival. World's most lovable clown, Ronald McDonald will go on stage on March 29 and 30 and on April 2 and 5 from 7.30pm to 8.30pm, sending children into fits of laughter. But laughter is not all there is with Ronald the clown, important messages will also be imparted to the little ones at the same time.

Play with Fruit daily show, hosted by a troop of performers from Russia is another entertainment event that has become a hit with children. Tailored especially for the Festival, Play with Fruits is not just entertainment sat its best with characters in cutlery and crockery costumes, but it is also an educational event imparting the importance of different types of food to children.

Besides the entertainment shows, Al Qasba Food Festival 2008 also hosts a series of interesting lectures and workshops. Special free cookery demonstrations by some top chefs at the Holiday Inn, Sharjah, will be conducted on various days from 8.30pm until 9.30pm. Visitors can attend the Arabic Cuisine Specialties on February 28 and 29, the Asian Cuisine on March 31 and April 1 and the Continental Cuisine on April 3 and 4.

Cooking competitions (for visitors) will also be held with fantastic prizes with the Chinese cookery on March 27, Arabic on March 30, Asian on April 2 and Continental on April 5.

A variety of interesting lectures and workshops including some on Nutrition, Table Manners Workshop, Food Etiquettes, Children's School Bags and Kitchen and Food Hygiene will be conducted until April 5.

The Al Qasba Walkway Shows bring special fun daily to the Festival with a host of fun and interactive renditions by performers. The Special Jumpers Chef from 5.30pm to 6.20pm, the Comic Chicken and Chef Band from 6.30pm to 7.10pm, the Ribbon Carnival at 8.15pm and the Mascotte Children Comic Parade at10.15pm are proving to be great entertainment for children and adults alike.

The Festival will also be ablaze with brilliant fireworks during the weekend, offering some spectacular fireworks shows from 10.30pm onwards.