UAE

Smurf village coming to the UAE in world first

The world's first Smurf Village, based on the famous blue cartoon characters, will come to life at Summer in Abu Dhabi.

Zainab Mudallal

June 22, 2011

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ABU DHABI // The world's first Smurf Village, based on the famous blue cartoon characters, will come to life at Summer in Abu Dhabi.

The village will be divided into 12 districts including Papa Smurf's Story Corner, Smurfette's Land of Beauty and the Smurf Fun Park.

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At the festival, which will run between June 30 and July 30 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), children will have one-on-one time with the Smurfs in their famous mushroom houses.

One attraction, called The Reel Mushroom, will play back-to-back episodes of The SmurfsTV show.

"Part of Smurf legend is that outsiders cannot find their village except when shown the way by a Smurf," said Faisal Al Sheikh, the events manager of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, which runs the festival. "Thankfully, Summer in Abu Dhabi has solved this problem."

The Smurfs have recently had an increase in popularity because of the worldwide release of the 3D movie The Smurfs on July 29. It will star Neil Patrick Harris and the US pop artist Katy Perry.

Other Adnec activities at Summer in Abu Dhabi include Adventure World, which has 11 competitions; Career World, which allows children to try their hands at a dozen careers; and Show World, which will screen TV programmes including SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer in a 120-seat theatre twice daily.

The indoor festival at Adnec will cost Dh20 for children up to 12 years old and Dh40 for adults. Children younger than two will be admitted free.

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The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:

Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.

Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.

Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.

Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.

Saraya Al Khorasani:  The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.

(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)

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