An interior view of Doha Festival City. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Doha Festival City, Qatar’s much-anticipated entertainment, retail and hospitality destination costing over QR6bn, is all set to open on April 5.
The facility, located at north of Doha on Al Shamal Road, adjacent to IKEA Qatar boasts several unique features including Snow Dunes, Angry Birds, VOX Cinemas among many others. it is expected to welcome around 20 million visitors per year.
“Doha Festival City is more than a mall,” Trevor Hill, General Manager of Doha Festival City told The Peninsula on the sidelines of an event to announce the opening date of the facility.
“The visual games will be available with the opening of the City and other entertainment facilities will be added gradually. We will provide easy-to-access parking spaces to the visitors," said Hill.
The press briefing followed by a media tour to the facility was attended by Mechael Beggs, Development Director, Al Futtaim Group Real Estate, Kareem Shamma, CEO of Bawabat Al Shamal Real Estate Company, responsible for the overall delivery of Doha Festival City.
The hypermarket in the Mall will offer organic vegetables from local farms in a separate shelf, a marketing officer told The Peninsula.
“We have studied the best digital practices globally to ensure our visitors’ comprehensive journey through Doha Festival City is the most user-friendly and efficient experience throughout – from planning their trip via our website, to parking, way-finding and being connected via the free Wi-Fi whilst here, said Hill speaking in the ceremony. The technology we have implemented is quite new and exciting in the market. We are thrilled to be able to provide our valued customers with these smart options, where we will offer them support and convenience, delivering the definitive Mall experience in Qatar.”
Digital way-finders will be conveniently located throughout the Mall. “Doha Festival City is spread out over a total site area of 433,000sqm, so our interactive directory is sure to be of assistance for those seeking guidance on any of our 500 leading retailers and extensive entertainment offerings. Whilst traditional printed Mall Guides will also be available, digital way-finding offers a quick and easy alternative and visitors can also search events, offers and find out what entertainment is happening in the Mall.” continued Trevor Hill.
Doha Festival City will also offer visitors seamless connectivity with complimentary Wi-Fi to ensure visitors can find and share information and experiences. Whilst before even setting foot in the Mall, customers can begin their interactive journey by visiting the new website at www.festivalcitydoha.com. The website offers an optimised experience where they can browse special offers and the Mall directory on all devices, from desktops and tablets to mobile on-the-go.
Once the visitor arrives at the Mall, the smart car-park will allow them to easily gauge available spaces through a red and green light parking system essentially streamlining the parking experience. Doha Festival City has more than 8,000 easy-to-access parking spaces, across multi-story, full basement and surface car-parks. It is further enhanced with dedicated ramps to and from Shamal Road, all of which have been carefully designed to ensure that access and parking at Doha Festival City are stress-free and convenient experiences, from arrival to departure.
Doha Festival City is also home to state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor activity areas, including four unique theme parks that bring with them cutting-edge technology to completely revolutionise mall entertainment. ‘Juniverse,’ harnesses the power of dynamic learning to inspire, educate and entertain. ‘Virtoucity’, will merge the virtual world with reality, to deliver an immersive digital experience.
Snow Dunes, will be Qatar’s first indoor snow park themed around a fantastical Arabian town set in the distant past and Angry Birds, the global gaming sensation and Hollywood blockbuster movie from Sony Entertainment will also launch its first theme park at the mall. Additionally, VOX Cinemas, is also set to revolutionise the cinema experience for audiences in Qatar with 18 digital screens including four new concepts - 4DX, Theater by Rhodes, MAX and VOX Kids – which are exclusive to Doha Festival City.
Doha Festival City has selected ELAN Media as its exclusive media partner as part of a multi-year deal to provide best-in-class turnkey solutions to the Mall.
