On New Year’s Eve, the Sheikh Zayed Festival witnessed over one million visitors, from the UAE and outside of the country, who gathered at Al Wathba to welcome the New Year of 2023 with the largest fireworks display and drone show that broke four Guinness World Records.
The Festival grounds were filled with a crowd of spectators of the outstanding drone and fireworks shows, which lasted for around 60 minutes for the first time in the region and was documented by the Guinness World Records.
The Sheikh Zayed Festival is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, with the follow-up of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Court, who is always keen to provide utmost guidance reflected on the numerous successes achieved during the Festival’s run.
Amid an atmosphere of joy, the largest fireworks display lasted for more than 40 minutes, and more than 3,000 drones flew up the sky of Al Wathba in different colors of light and formation, providing the crowd with an exceptional experience and a welcome message at the end of the exhilarating show that successfully broke three Guinness World Records.
Commenting on this wonderful milestone, Al-Waleed Osman, Guinness World Records Adjudicator, confirmed that the Sheikh Zayed Festival was able to break four records during the event, three of which are for the fireworks display and a new record was set by the magnificent drone show.
He explained that most girandola fireworks were launched in 30 seconds; most fireworks pinwheels were launched in 30 seconds and most repeated firework image was formed in 30 seconds; in addition to the Multirotor/drone, the largest formation of a Quick Response (QR) code formed by drones.
“We are pleased to be at the Sheikh Zayed Festival to witness its 2023 New Year's celebrations and we extend our congratulations to the organizers, who consistently break records annually in order to delightfully entertain the audience,” Osman added.
Visitors to the Festival documented the wonderful moments of the various shows and shared them on social media. The stunning performances were also broadcasted on the Festival's social media channels.The Emirates Fountain and Laser Shows were able to impress visitors of all ages with dazzling musical and laser displays.
The new year celebrations of the participating countries included entertaining international folklore and cultural presentations that roamed the Festival grounds and pavilions, turning the Festival area into a global artistic destination. Visitors also experienced art and culture of these countries through its cultural dances and live music presentations on the various pavilion stages around the grounds.
The public expressed their happiness towards the various exhibitions and shows such as the Heritage Village and the Emirati Civilizations pavilions, the Fun Fair City, Children’s City, Art District, Go-Karting competitions, Crazy Car, Glow and Flower Garden, Selfie Street, Dessert Museum and many more.