Entertainment galore on Day 1
Manama : Despite the soaring temperatures, the first day of the 2017 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix opened to a decent crowd yesterday. While it was rather quiet during the early hours, spectators quickly started to gather in large numbers by noon to catch the practice sessions of their favourite drivers and teams. While some remain hooked to the action on the track, others were intrigued to witness the multitude of entertainment prepared at the village vending area.
This year has brought an impressive line-up of events and shows, not quite experienced by F1 visitors before. Among them, the interactive dinosaurs and ice age tent were a popular choice from early morning itself. The exhibit, consisting of 24 dinosaurs and 10 ice age animals, saw the waiting lines increasing as it started to get cooler during the evening hours.
Abdulla Saad, who came with his family, told DT News that the prehistoric creatures display made the whole F1 experience entertaining for his children.
“Bahrain Grand Prix always manages to top up its entertainment podium every year and with the addition of the Dinosaur and Ice Age extravaganza, it has certainly succeeded in giving a complete entertainment package for the whole family,” he said.
Aside from the impressive exhibits, visitors were entertained endlessly by the roaming spectacles consisting of talent aplenty from different parts of the world. Among them, one performance that intrigued crowds was that of the ‘Dancing Grannies’. Coming all the way from the UK, their comical dance moves, that too on traditional ‘Bhangra’ and modern routines, captured the attention of large groups.
Speaking to DT News, they said they were very excited to come to Bahrain and the love and encouragement displayed on their first performance itself boosted them to give a great string of shows through all the 3 days of the racing event.
With over 300 million views on social media, the Dancing Grannies is one act to keep an eye out for. The first day closed on a high note, with smashing performances by French DJ Klingande, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, and MATTN.
Formula 1 action will resume today afternoon with a third practice session starting at 3 pm. Qualifying will then be held from 6 pm to 7 pm under floodlights. Today’s lineup of adrenaline charged activities on and off the track will conclude with highly anticipated back to back concerts by the Latin megastar ‘Enrique Iglesias’ along with Grammy nominated electronic dance superstar ‘Steve Aoki’. They will be performing after the Formula 1 Qualifying, with Iglesias being the first to take to the stage before Aoki closes out the night in style.
The three-day event marks the third round of this year’s FIA Formula 1 World Championship, and the first night race of the season, set to take place on tomorrow. It has been reported that tickets have already sold out for the University Grandstand and 98 percent sold out for the Main Grandstand. For more on ticket inquiries, check out www.bahraingp.com.
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