A carnival atmosphere is set to grip Bahrain when the kingdom's largest family entertainment event, ‘Festival City’, opens on Thursday (January 17).

Located at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, the Festival City will host a number of carnival games, an outdoor market, live entertainment and outdoor cinema for the next two weeks.

Festival City’s main stage will host a larger scale of performances than the previous editions including a number of performances by local artists such as Mo Zowayed, Bahrain Talking Drums and Banah. Additionally, world-renowned performers ‘Smurfs on Stage’ will be putting on three performances during the weekend of January 24-26.

The attraction is part of the nationwide shopping festival 'Shop Bahrain', which was launched on January 1 and runs till February 2.

The Festival City will open at 4pm and run till 11 pm (on weekends) and till 10pm on weekdays. Entry tickets are priced at BD2 ($5.2) for ages four and above.

The entry tickets permit visitors to take part in up to four games in addition to enjoying the onstage performances and entertainment offerings while simultaneously joining the Shop Bahrain 'Loyalty System' which enables them to enter the raffle draw and get the opportunity to win valuable prizes.

Shop Bahrain has more than 73,000 prizes up for grabs including new cars and airline tickets.

"BTEA aims to make the tourism sector a major contributor to the national economy through hosting events all year round. The nationwide shopping festival ‘Shop Bahrain’ is an integral part of our strategy as it revitalises the tourism and retail sectors and supports the realisation of the Economic Vision 2030,” said Yousif Al Khan, director of Tourism Marketing & Promotion, during a press conference held yesterday at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre.

The total volume of transactions during the 2018 edition of Shop Bahrain was BD19 million ($50 million), and more than 137,150 of local and regional shoppers registered in the online loyalty system to collect points. - TradeArabia News Service