Global Village smashes attendance records

Wednesday saw over 193,000 people walk through the iconic gates of the Creekside DSF feature event, which also contributed to taking the total number of visitors to date over the 2.6 million mark.

'Attendance this year has been fantastic,' said Alan Gordon, General Manager, Global Village. 'We had set a target of achieving 2.6 million visitors this year and that's been achieved with three days to go.'

Gordon added that visitor numbers to the event will have been affected by the Eid al Adha holiday period and a number of school breaks in the region.

'One of the other major factors in the high visitor numbers for this year, is the improvements made in access and parking paying dividends with little congestion on the Al Garhoud Bridge.

Infrastructure, facilities, access and parking at the Creekside entertainment spectacular were improved for Global Village 2003 to cope with an anticipated increase in visitor numbers. Alongside a 30% increase in the number of car parking spaces, an additional pre-paid parking scheme and more access points from Al Rebat Road, the 32-day 'window-on-the-world' features shuttle services with a tram, road trains and horse-drawn carriages.

Global Village 2003 is jointly produced and managed by the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Al-Futtaim Group, which is developing the 1,600 acre mixed-use Dubai Festival City project. Global Village 2003 features 32 pavilions, a giant fun fair, stage and street entertainment, restaurants, coffee shops and a new children's play area.