Louvre Abu Dhabi to host a family-friendly picnic on its grounds

The Saadiyat Island museum is launching a family day featuring food hampers and children’s activities

Families can picnic amid the Louvre Abu Dhabi grounds in January. Victor Besa / The National

Muffins and masterpieces will come together at Louvre Abu Dhabi in January.

The museum is inviting families to take part in its first Picnic in the Park event, a family fun day on the grounds of the museum in Saadiyat Island with children's activities and picnic hampers.

Running on January 15, the perfectly manicured grounds will host various food stations and children's arts-and-crafts activities.

Picnic boxes for four people can be ordered from the museum’s Aptitude Cafe or from Nectar, with families recommended to tuck into the meals amid the palm trees dotting the site.

When it comes to the food on offer, the Aptitude Cafe picnic box includes turkey and cheese sandwiches, a selection of cold cuts, cheese and crackers, as well as strawberries, grapes and figs.

The Nectar picnic box has chicken Caesar wraps, quinoa falafel wraps, mini almond flour blueberry and chocolate chip banana muffins and medjool dates with almond butter.

Picnic boxes are limited and need to be pre-ordered. Prices are Dh200 for Louvre Abu Dhabi members and Dh230 for non-members.

For those looking to enjoy the day without the food, tickets are Dh20 and Dh30 for members and non-members, respectively.

All visitors aged 16 and older must be fully vaccinated and present a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours.

Louvre Abu Dhabi being the star of the show

Picnic in the Park comes on the back of another event placing the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s grounds on the centre stage.

On New Year’s Day on Friday, French DJ David Guetta streamed a prerecorded concert held at the museum on his social media channels.

Showed through several cameras as well as aerial drone footage, Guetta performed on a floating stage backed by an evocative light show that included projections of masterpieces from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection.

The show also featured 20-metre-high flames shooting into the night sky in sync with the DJ’s set.

Guetta follows the international pop group Now United in performing streamed concerts from Louvre Abu Dhabi.

In a previous interview with The National, museum director Manuel Rabate says such events are part of a drive to promote the museum as a cultural and tourism destination: “What we are doing with these shows is creating desire and curiosity and, once it’s safe to do so, we can hopefully convert that knowledge into footfall.”

More information on Picnic in the Park is available at louvreabudhabi.ae