Al Ain Family Sports Festival

The Al Ain Family Sports Festival in January 2014 was the first of its kind in the UAE city. Funded by Al Ain Football Club, it also had support from the culture department of Abu Dhabi, the UAE Olympic committee and other associations.

Very high levels of diabetes and obesity are reported in the UAE, and the strategy here was to engage families in sports activities, to promote healthy eating in an engaging way and to look for emerging sporting talent.

This fun festival was created, designed and programmed by the team at event organisers WRG and operationally delivered on a very tight budget and time frame. Since this inaugural event, it now takes place every two to four years.

The festival was part of a wider soft opening for a new state-of-the-art stadium where Manchester City and Al Ain played. Four times a day, a parade of 3m-high puppet characters took place, culminating each time in a five-a-side football match.