Barbican TURBO Car Festival shifts Middle East Car shows into overdrive

The first of its kind in the Middle East, the Barbican Turbo Car Festival brought events and competitions such as the Sound Off, Top 100 and drifting sessions by the world renowned Japanese Team Orange from the film The Fast & the Furious Tokyo Drift. The festival also offered young people the chance to interact with other car aficionados.

One of the major highlights of the festival was the drifting shows put on by the Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift original Team Orange from Japan. The screeching of the tires during the drifting reverberated throughout the exhibition center and the way these professional drivers maneuvered the vehicles showed extreme precision and talent. The audience was in complete awe of their mastery of drifting.

Tapping into the digital world to further increase awareness about the event, Barbican arranged for an online competition summoning car enthusiasts to log on to the website and register to win a ride with the Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift's Team Orange. Information on the competition was included in a viral video showing clips of drifters and races. The video encouraged viewers and participants to register during the event. As number of entrants exceeded expectations, Barbican was prompted to increase chances and gave the opportunity to two lucky winners to ride with Nobushige Kumakubo of Team Orange. As they exited the cars, both winners gave the thumbs up expressing that it was the ride of their lives.

Other competitions included the 'Sound Off' which was divided into two competitions which identified the 'loudest stereo sound' and the 'best overall installation'. The winner of the 'loudest stereo sound' achieved the highest decibel level recorded at 135.1. The 'best overall installation' was chosen based on the aesthetics, sound quality and extent of volume of the vehicle.

The Top 100 incorporated competitions such as coolest kit, best on budget and the coveted "Car of the Festival". The coolest kit award went to the entrant with most original and unique body kit. The best on budget accolade went to the competitor with the most value added to his vehicle, with the least amount of money spent. However the most sought after honor was the "Car of the Festival" which was awarded to the Ahmed Zayed and his Ford Mustang which demonstrated the best combination of speed, aesthetics and sound system.

Barbican became the innovators of mainstream car customization in the region since the launching of the "Supe-up your ride" campaign which created a platform of self expression for young Arabs by creating a website to upload videos of themselves and their cars. It also offered the drivers a chance to have their cars completely refurbished. The brand also capitalized on the "Web 2.0" concepts of video sharing and online communities to amplify their objectives of staying in touch with the latest youth trends.

Giving visitors another dimension of entertainment, the Barbican Urban Dance Group displayed innovative dance moves and original choreography to the beats of trendy music. This freestyle dance performance put self-expression into motion and gathered large crowds who applauded in unison.

Ahmed Shaboury, Head of Brands for Aujan Industries, stated:

"Barbican is always seeking opportunities to engage young people in entertaining activities. With the inauguration of the Barbican TURBO Car Festival, we wanted to make sure the highest standards were set in creative car customization and encourage other innovative activities. Barbican's "This is Me" principles were clearly displayed through this event which was a great outlet promoting positive and responsible forms of self-expression. We're pleased to be a part of this festival and are looking forward to coming back next year; bigger, bolder and with many more surprises."

Barbican was thrilled with the enormous turnout that the festival witnessed where all of the events were greeted with great enthusiasm by everyone in attendance, which included car fans and also a unique experience for families during the weekend. The organizers expect the festival to draw even larger crowds next year.