Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) and Department of Transport, Government of Abu Dhabi, today took a tour of the UAE capital’s Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) Destination Village as it opened its gates to the public. Sheikh Sultan was given a full briefing on the packed activities planned at the sprawling 35,000 square metre, purpose-built waterfront site on the UAE capital’s stunning Corniche Breakwater, the port-of-call for 23 days of sports, entertainment and leisure as part of Abu Dhabi’s hosting of race Leg 2.
A stand-out feature of the free-to-enter Village that Sheikh Sultan took in was the unique 440-metre ‘floating’ Skyline Stage, which last night saw the debut Arabian performance of acclaimed BBC Worldwide production Blue Planet In Concert, which was rapturously received. The second performance of the worldwide audio/visual phenomenon is tonight (Saturday), with only limited tickets still available from timeouttickets.com. The stage will also play host to performances by Lebanese singing sensation Myriam Fares, Argentinian guitar maestro Dominic Miller and Grammy nominee Kamal Massalam amongst many others.
Sheikh Sultan was also shown the myriad of activity areas in the village, including themed zones covering culture and heritage; adventure; family; exhibitions; team and haul out and the environment as well as five international pavilions including China, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain. He also toured the VOR ‘Day At The Office’ cinema which screens a drama-packed 20 minute film on the race and its competitors.
The village is open daily from 12 noon to 9pm Sunday-Thursday and 11am to midnight Fridays and Saturdays until January 3rd when the fleet leaves on the third leg of the race to China.