Doha’s construction landscape continues to expand and the countdown has already begun for the opening of its biggest mall: the Doha Festival City, a mixed-use retail and leisure development that is set to debut in September 2016
The largest mall to ever be built in the country will feature a 250,000 square meter mall with over 550 stores, 85 restaurants and cafés, a hotel and convention center, a car showrooms, and an 8000 space car park. In terms of entertainment, there will be many amenities offered including a state of the art cinemas, a snow park, an Angry Birds theme park, an e-sports gaming arena, F1 and flight simulators and a themed play zone.
The construction began in October 2011 north of Doha on Al Shamal Road and the first phase of the project was already completed and saw the opening of Qatar’s first and only IKEA store, which has been successfully functioning since March 2013.
The completion of the second phase will comprise the access to the basement and ground floor levels, which includes the massive retail mall. The opening of the mall, which is set for September 29 along with the food court and the 18-screen 4D Vox Cinemas, will be followed by the opening of the rest of the entertainment facilities. The third phase will convey the five star hotel and convention centre.
Speaking up recently about the mall’s debut, the Doha Festival City CEO Kareem Shamma stated: “The mall will open its doors for trading on Sept. 29. This will be the entire mall – we took the decision to go for the whole thing. All the corridors will be open, the food court, the cinemas and at least one or two of the theme parks will be open. Of the total 550 units we have, around 400 of them will be open and operating on that day.”
