Step back in time at Qasr Al Hosn Festival

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ABU DHABI // Visitors to this year’s Qasr Al Hosn Festival will have the chance to take home a pearl, learn how to excavate archaeological findings, and experience a light show on the fort’s walls.

As the festival open its doors on Wednesday for its fourth year, guests will literally be walking into the emirate’s past.

At the coastal marine zone, guests are invited to shuck oysters. If a pearl is found inside, they can keep it for Dh40.

The Qasr Al Hosn zone has been added outside the fort, where people can take archaeology and architecture workshops. There will also be a light show on its inner walls after sunset telling the story of Abu Dhabi and the fort’s history.

“You will see the fort like you have never seen it before because we removed the renders; it tells the story of the fort history and the building itself,” says Randa Bin Haidar, a culture programmes manager at Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA).

The self-guided tour lasts for about 20 minutes with Arabic and English audio. “It is an immersive experience,” she says.

At the Marine Coast section of the festival, and across the premises, traditional coffee shops and seating areas have been set up. Only traditional drinks and food are served to give guests a comprehensive experience from the past. Across the corner, ‘people of the sea’ Eissa and Salah Al Tunaiji cook fresh fish in barrels placed in holes in the sand, as they were cooked in the 1970s.

“We bring the fish fresh from the sea, and then add the required spices and salt,” says Eissa.

After lighting the wood inside the barrels, they cook the fish for an hour or more, then add natural butter and rice to complete.

For the first time since 2009, guests will be allowed inside the building for an architectural tour.

“It is a new activity for a limited group because it is still a construction site,” explains Amal Chabbi, a building conservator at TCA.

A video booth where visitors can record their fond memories of the cultural foundation will continue this year as well.

“The festival itself is an outlet for us to understand how the public want it to return,” she adds.

At the Abu Dhabi Island Pavilion, actors will recreate what it was like to live in a coastal village in the 1950s. From children studying in a classroom, to a wedding celebration, a blacksmith, pottery making, policemen and a butcher, all are included.

To ensure that visitors have the chance to experience all the festival activities, two activity passes are provided with each entry ticket.

“We are expecting a huge number of visitors this year, so to ensure more than one person can do more than one thing you get two activity passes,” explains Ms Bin Haidar.

The passes can be exchanged to attend a family workshop or to watch the stage shows

Last year there were 120,000 visitors, “and we have been getting bigger hits on the website and the call centre. If that is an indication, we are expecting spikes in visitor numbers,” she says.

hdajani@thenational.ae