Almost 4,000 people kick off Hazza bin Zayed Stadium festival in Al Ain

Picture perfect: a visitor takes a snap of the 25,000-seat Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain last night. Azeem Shoukat / Al Ittihad

AL AIN // Almost 4,000 people kicked off the weekend at the much anticipated opening of Al Ain FC’s new home on Thursday, starting three days of non-stop fun.

The 25,000-seat Hazza bin Zayed Stadium celebrated its opening with the Big Kickoff Festival of fitness and health.

“We’re having a lot of fun,” said Heba Sadaqa, 28, from Al Ain.

She and her husband planned to come back on Friday and take their daughter, 4, on the bungee-free jump, which had a long line on opening night.

Fitness and nutrition were major themes to launch the stadium complex, which will include a gym, jogging and cycling tracks and sports fields, as well as shops, restaurants, apartment buildings and a hotel.

Eman Al Taweel and her husband, Osama Mohammed, sat on cushions near the healthy-eating area as their two children Riyan, 5, and Mohammed, 3, coloured intently on a stack of worksheets.

Dietitian Ola Mezher and her team had brought the worksheets for children to learn about healthy eating and the different food groups.

“Riyan is learning but Mohammed, he plays,” said Ms Al Taweel, 29.

Event staff in the nutrition area educated visitors about healthy diets. Ms Mezher said there was good interest, but mainly from women.

She gave a presentation on how to prepare a machboos with chicken breast, rather than the traditional and fattier lamb or chicken thigh.

The extreme sport activities drew the largest crowds, with youngsters lining up to try the Bag Jump, where they could jump seven or 10 metres on to a large, inflated bag.

Then there was the BMX track and rock climbing.

“The kids have never seen anything like this,” said Kader Hadri, co-owner of Flow Events, a Dubai company that promotes extreme sports.

The company put on shows with parkour performers doing tricks for an audience.

“We sell adrenalin at the end of the day,” said Mr Hadri, 27.

“It doesn’t get old when you see the kids come stoked to jump, and the adults, too.”

The festival grounds, set up on an artificial turf near the new stadium, were divided into sections for different sports, each represented by different animals.

Other activities included a martial arts show, human foosball, table tennis and basketball.

Caterers near the ticket stands sold healthier food than would normally be found at a fair, including sushi, salads and smoothies.

UAE breakdancing crews from Dubai and Al Ain performed nearby, teaching youths how to pop and lock.

Children, mostly boys, lined up for football matches and drills organised by Soccer Kids, a group of football coaches and players based in Dubai that runs football camps.

It was a chance for kids who may not often have access to experienced coaching, said James Masterman, 34, a Briton who was overseeing football activities at the festival.

“The object of this is to have the boys participating and enjoying football rather than just watching. They don’t realise they’re learning.”

The Big Kickoff Festival runs until Saturday and is free to the public. The stadium’s first match is at 5pm on Friday, when Al Dhafra Club will play Al Ain.

Activities start at 2pm on Friday and Saturday and end at 9.30pm. The festival closes at 10pm on both days.