ABU DHABI // Underage drinking, fights and last minute changes to the DJ line up were among the complaints levelled by fans attending last week's Creamfields Abu Dhabi dance party.
On the Facebook page of the party's promoter, Abu Dhabi-based Flash Entertainment, the majority of posts from dance music fans expressed their disenchantment with these problems, as well as a general belief that security was inadequate, allowing in young people under 18.
Several people under the legal drinking age of 21 were said to have been seen consuming alcoholic drinks at Thursday's party on Yas Island.
A number of fights also broke out, with some resulting in serious injury. In three fights witnessed by a reporter, security was nowhere to be seen.
"I feared for my safety," Judith Welling, 39, a housewife from Dubai, said. "I am mortified by how many young kids were there. I spoke to one school teacher who said she had seen pupils from her school as young as 13 there.
"It was those underage kids drinking alcohol and getting rowdy ruining it for others. I am so cross I spent so much on a ticket and missed out on seeing the DJs I wanted to."
Flash Entertainment declined to comment when contacted. The management of Group4Securicor, the security company hired for the event, did not return calls.
At Creamfields, while waiting for the world-renowned DJ and music producer, David Guetta, who arrived at the party three hours later than scheduled, Bruno Solange collapsed unconscious at 4am. His wife said security impeded her ability to give aid to the fifty-something French resident of Al Ain.
"While we were waiting for Guetta … my husband collapsed right in front of security in front of the main stage in the crowd. When we asked security to help us to the first aid tent, they asked who we were and what our nationality was instead of being concerned for my husband. This was unprofessional and unacceptable," Ketty Solange said.
Some attendees said they were particularly disappointed by a last-minute change in the DJ line-up, which forced many to miss the acts they paid at least Dh250 per ticket to see.
ealghalib@thenational.ae
This article has been altered to correct the fact that Flash Entertainment is Abu Dhabi based not Dubai as originally stated.
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
How to help
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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The Vines - In Miracle Land
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
