Dubai - Athletes are drawn from the most renown extreme stuntmen in the world,
Published: Fri 10 Feb 2017, 1:16 PM
Last updated: Fri 10 Feb 2017, 3:01 PM
Visitors to Riverland Dubai this week can witness an exciting display of extreme athletes including parkour experts, flyboarders and BMX pros.
The event, entitled 'Xtreme Acts on the River' also includes exhilarating pogo stick jumpers, scooter riders, high-speed inline skaters, and 'bag-drops' onto inflatable landing areas from platforms up to 20 metres high, all performing to the sound of music played by DJs.
The diverse groups of athletes are drawn from the most renowned extreme athletes in the world, many of whom have won international competitions in their home countries such as Ukraine, Great Britain, Russia and Jordan.
The parkour runners were the crowd favourites on Thursday - the event's opening day - as they flipped and spun over and above obstacles to the loud cheer of spectators.
A parkour pro, 22-year old Ukrainian national Rostyslav Chulkov, explained that parkour is "movement from point A to point B using any sort of flips or tricks."
"I try to do gymnastics to improve my technique. It's a really nice sport to improve the body and make the muscles and the soul strong," he said. "The environment (at the Xtreme Acts event) is different, but I love it. I didn't expect it at all. The platform is amazing. It allows us to show what we can do. We hope people come see us, ask any questions, and maybe even give you advice to learn a few tricks."
"I'm here to jump from (a) nine-metre platform, and also to do parkour on the water," 21-year old Londoner Bogdan Pascal told Khaleej Times. "I've been doing parkour for 10 years. I wanted to invent a game that let me jump and use obstacles, and then I found it's called parkour. "The scenery here is like out of a story. The area is really nice, they've made a great thing," he said.
"The following two days we'll have six shows a day, so come join us!"
Klaus Assmann, vice-president of Hospitality, Retail and Dining for DXB Entertainments noted that the event is designed to make optimal use of Riverland Dubai, the free-of-charge multi-themed, one-kilometre long artificial waterway that connects the various theme parks.
"We felt that we needed to do a bit more than just being pretty and in between the theme parks, so we are actually starting events all around the river," he said. "This weekend we start with Xtreme Acts on the River. We've got some great guys for that, world and European champions on BMX bikes, roller blades, pogo sticks even ... there are a lot of activities going on over the next three days. It's something very special for us.
Xtreme Acts on the River, he noted, is to be followed by a series of events, beginning in March.
"This will be followed by 'Fairytales on the River'. We'll bring some really famous fairy tales to Dubai, with fairy tale workshops and different shows over parts of Riverland over three days," he said. "It's very family oriented and very different ... we wanted to make sure to do something nobody else is doing yet."
"The third one coming up is 'Rhythm on the River', which is basically a music festival, but also very different. Of course, we'll have rock bands, but we'll also have a New Orleans Marching band, and, since we're in the UAE, a UAE band and traditional dancers," he said. "We'll also have an Indian band. It's a mix."
After the summer, Riverland Dubai will host 'Circus on the River' and 'Pets on the River', which will include petting zoos and educational events on animals.
Athletes try bag jump at the event.
- bernd@khaleejtimes.com
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