RIYADH: From live gaming racing experiences, musical performances, food trucks and face painting, this year’s Formula E Allianz Fan Village pulled out all the stops to create memorable fun for visitors in Diriyah.
“It’s really wonderful. I brought my kids and wife. It’s been a lot of fun,” Michael Brantley, a business strategist living in Riyadh, told Arab News.
“We played a racing game in the Jahez tent and my daughter got her face painted.
“It is a great feeling to be on top of the race. We are still new to Saudi, so this was our first Diriyah Formula E, but it was great.
The Fan Village welcomes locals, expats, families and friends to watch the races and enjoy the downtime between rounds on Friday and Saturday.
It boasted a number of tents and booths, offering interactive experiences and activities such as a miniature remote-controlled racing game around Diriyah in a Saudia airline booth pop-up.
The live gaming area gave guests the full experience of racing through multiple simulators and several different levels.
The fan village also featured a main stage with several screens that displayed live broadcasts of the race.
Live performances, from marching bands to magicians, took place on a small stage to entertain families, while other tents featured live music and autograph sessions from competing drivers.
Formula E merchandise and memorabilia could also be purchased, and the store had a paddle court for visitors wanting some exercise.
Yusra Al-Humaidan, 22, attended the event with friends to share the experience.
He said: “I decided to come to Formula E with some of my friends at the last minute. We didn’t attend on the first day, but after seeing all the videos and pictures on Snapchat, we decided to come and see it.
The party visited the Fan Village before returning to the Emotion Club, Formula E’s premium hospitality club.
He said: “The game in [fan] The villages were a lot of fun. We saw this guy dressed like a trophy who was dancing, and we played some car racing games before dinner.”
The event ended with a concert by French Montana and John Legend on the podium stage.
The two-day Diriyah E-Prix, which concluded on Saturday, took place during the ninth season of the FIA Formula E World Championship.
Some 11 teams and 22 drivers took part in the race grid for the fifth time in the Kingdom since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inaugurated the event in December 2018.