The highly anticipated Light Village 2024 kicked off on Thursday and will run until February 18. Located opposite the University City Hall of Sharjah, the Light Village is organised by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) as part of Sharjah Light Festival 2024 — the first of its kind in the region and the Middle East — scheduled from February 7–18.
The festival will illuminate a total of 12 iconic landmarks and sites across various cities and areas of the emirate.
Mounir Harbaoui, Managing Director at Artabesk, said they’re handling four spots – Sharjah Mosque, Dibba Mosque, Hamriya Souq and Rafisah Dam. He said they’re putting colourful projections on buildings using latest technology.
“We suggested some places to the Sharjah government, and then they picked them before we got to work,” he said. According to Harbaoui, a French natioal, artists from Serbia, Russia, the UK, France and Germany are joining in to make it a memorable event. This time, Rafisah Dam will be different. They’ll still project on the mountain, but there’s a new twist – a drone swan show on the water, Harbaoui said.
“Twelve swans will dance and sync up on the water,” he said, adding that visitors will surely love it.
Sharjah Mosque is getting a mix of old and new this year, he remarked. “We’ve been working on this for months. Six months ago, we started picking places because mapping doesn’t work everywhere, and we got creative about two months ago. We’re using 37,000 bright projectors on the four sites,” Harbaoui concluded.
Sharjah Light Village 2024
Commenting on the launch of the Light Village 2024, Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), said: “The Light Village complements the Sharjah Light Festival’s vision by providing creative and engaging events across the emirate and its most prominent locations.
“This entertaining family destination will cater to the needs of Sharjah residents and visitors and, at the same time, support youth initiatives and national projects to stimulate the national economy. Our aim is to foster creativity and innovation across various fields, contribute to entrepreneurship in SMEs, and enhance our community’s vibrancy and economic growth.”
This year, the Light Village will showcase over 55 national SME projects, embodying the SCTDA’s strategy to stimulate economic and tourist growth in the emirate by supporting national and home-grown projects.
Offering visitors a unique experience, the village will also feature a range of activities and attractions, from a hyper sonic multimedia tunnel and inflatable bubble-like spheres to giant mirrored balls that will take visitors on a journey of imagination, alongside play zone, SLF East (F&B zone), versatile light installations and experiences.
Hyper Sonic Multimedia Tunnel
The Light Village transcends the ordinary, inviting visitors into an enchanting realm where light, sound, and movement unite in an extraordinary spectacle. At its heart lies the Hyper Sonic Multimedia Tunnel, a marvel of technology where radiant light strips weave together dynamic visuals, animations, and compelling narratives, crafting an interactive journey that captivates the senses.
The Bubble-Shaped Inflatable Spheres is a masterpiece of visual artistry; a dazzling array of rainbow-hued spheres shimmer under the open sky, creating a spectacle of light and colour that offers an experience without parallel. This vibrant large inflatable art installation captivates the imagination, iridescent colour that reacts to the sun and the moving sky.
Immersive Experiences Tent
In the Immersive Experiences Tent, visitors will enter the realm of Cosmic Bubbles, a mesmerising space and an immersive ball pit experience where visitors are enveloped in rolling spheres set beneath an ethereal canopy of multicoloured bubbles. This immersive installation combines vivid imagery and captivating sounds to forge an imaginative, multisensory adventure unlike any other. In the tent, visitors will also enjoy the Mirrors in the Sky, an art exhibition of immersive mirror spheres, where viewers find themselves and the sky reflected endlessly in a collection of giant mirrored balls.
The Light Village also offers young visitors a wonderland of excitement and adventure designed to unleash their imaginations in the Play Zone. Visitors can also enjoy food from over 50 vendors in the SLF Eats offering a range of flavours, from exotic to traditional to fusion, available for 18 unmissable nights.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
