Abu Dhabi, January 05, 2022:  The Sheikh Zayed Festival has now officially broken 3 Guinness World Records in terms of volume, duration and form during its New Year celebrations with a 40 minute firework show and first-of-its-kind show featuring 2,022 drones. At midnight, the sky lit up the desert landscape stirring everyone’s hearts and leaving the spectators in awe.

The Sheikh Zayed Festival, that is currently running from 18th November, 2021 to 1st April, 2022 in Al Wathba, is known to organise exceptional events and parades with carnival-like performances, international artistic cultural troupes and folkloric chants and dances from different countries that tours the festival squares and pavilions. Among these performances, there are also local traditional dances such as Al Yola and Al Razfa, performed by Emirati bands, which further emphasise the cultural melting-pot created by the Festival. 

To mark the Year of the Fiftieth and in an effort to welcome this New Year with hope for the future, the High Organising Committee and its partners, including Nirvana Travel and Tourism, have surpassed themselves by breaking 3 Guinness World Records.

Speaking about the event, CEO of Nirvana Travel and Tourism, Alaa Al Ali said “it was an amazing show and we are very proud to be a part of the organization of the festival”. Along with the fireworks, featuring for the first time ever in the world, exactly 2,022 unmanned aircrafts that formed the faces of United Arab Emirates leaders’. The drones also formed the shapes of the Emirates skyscrapers and landmarks, the planet Earth, the festival's logo and the words, and the show-stopper “Happy New Year 2022”.

Preceding the fireworks show, a concert was also prepared on the main stage, brought to life by the famous artist Eida Al-Menhali, who met the audience with a collection of his most popular songs. Other celebrations were put in place in several locations including activities for children like plays and circus shows held at the children’s theatre, fun games in the Fun City, Al Forsan Sports Resort, and other activities that started from 4pm and went on until closing times.

Since its first edition, the Sheikh Zayed Festival priority mission was to showcase the intellectual and cultural heritage of the Emirates, by highlighting the richness of its traditions and its many facets thus organising a cultural event of international standards attracting both traveling tourists, visitors, citizens and residents of the Emirates.

With these events, the Sheikh Zayed Festival enhances its leading position among the most important international cultural and entertainment festivals and establish Abu Dhabi on the map.