Entertainment

Eyes sparkling, hands grabbing to their parents' clothes, it is the first demand of every child coming to the Liwa Dates Festival: "mommy, mommy, can we go there please!" From the moment it opens to the public at 4 pm, till it closes at 10 pm, the Children's Village at the ongoing festival in Liwa, in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi Emirate, bursts with energy and creativity, always packed with children of all ages.

"We just drove two and a half hours from Abu Dhabi, to visit the festival, which is a long time for two young boys to spend in a car. As soon as they saw the Children's Village they run in and I don't think I'll be able to take them out of here soon," said Iman Atteyah, one of the hundreds of people travelling daily from across the country to visit the Liwa Dates Festival.

Iman, like most parents here, is very impressed with the organisation of the Village, as it not only keeps the kids entertained, but it also teaches them a few things in the process. The various fun, creative and enriching activities run here by the festival's professional staff are centred on Emirati, and particularly Liwa oasis heritage.

"Every day we have between 250 and 300 kids coming to the Children's Village. We run five different workshops for them, involving arts and crafts, and we also have all kind of stage shows," said the supervisor of the Children's Village.
"We have many local kids, coming from the villages of Liwa, and also from all over the Emirates, and also children of different nationalities, from Indian to American".

The workshops include making a model farm using recycled materials, sculpting one of Liwa's forts using clay, creating mosaics from using cut and paste paper technique, coloring drawings and painting walls and fabric with Liwa landscapes, dates or even the Liwa Dates Festival logo.
"The workshops are suitable for children of all ages, from four years old and above. There are no prizes involved, but they all get to take their artworks back home, as souvenirs of their visit to the Liwa Dates Festival," added the supervisor.

As for the stage programme, this includes competitions, quizzes, storytelling and even a theatre show, one more popular than the other and all involving the young audience participation. The wheel quiz is one of the favorites. The young masterminds get on stage, where they spin a colorful quiz wheel, which is split into several categories, such as Liwa oasis or date palm farming. They have to answers questions from the category where the wheel stops, and who answers most questions correctly is awarded a variety of prizes.

"We also make competitions between young and older children and between boys and girls. Of course the girls win most of the time," said the supervisor, smiling.

The storytelling sessions, using fun characters, also enlighten children on Emirati heritage, telling tales of the past, when people had to travel the desert in search of food and water, sometimes having nothing but dates to eat.

"Learning about the significance of the palm tree, about the history of Liwa, the birthplace of the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and generally about the rich Emirati heritage is the focus of this year's Children's Village at the festival," added the supervisor.
Organised by the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi, Liwa Dates Festival will continue until July 30th.

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