The annual Mother of the Nation festival began on Friday in Abu Dhabi, welcoming visitors to its colourful pop-ups filled with family fun and a whole lot of food.
It is billed as one of the biggest entertainment festivals in the region and the sixth event will run for nine days until December 18. There are plenty of activities and food concepts lined up along a decorated portion of the Corniche.
There's something for everyone at the festival, which returns with six thematic zones: Inspire Space, Food Hub, Amusement Park, Thrill Zone, Shopping District and Live Arena.
Scroll through the gallery above for a peek at this year's Mother of the Nation festival
Here's a look at what you can expect from this year's Mother of the Nation event.
The Inspire Zone houses one of the biggest pop-ups, the Anima digital art installation by Anderson Tegon from Italy.
The installation takes visitors to an expansive dark hall, with interactive lights that follow their movements.
"Like life, everything that people do [inside the hall] will have consequences," says Tegon, who also recently opened an office in Dubai to formally expand his art in the region.
It also has a social media museum.
At the Inspire Space features one of my favourite spots of the festival, the lively corner of Australian food concepts Knafeh Bakery and Bar Biscotti.
The staff call themselves the "Bearded Bakers" — bearded guys who sing and dance to Arabic tunes while baking a scrumptious kunafa — and they have plenty of positive energy.
The Thrill Zone is another exciting space that includes arcade and virtual reality games for all ages, including a VR-designed multiplayer game developed in Canada. Arcade games and billiards can be found inside the Pixel Haus. There is also a haunted house, as well as a heist-themed family escape room.
Other exciting districts include the Amusement Park, with classic carnival-style rides such as a carousel. After some tiring games and activities, head over to the food hub for some quick bites and refreshing drinks. The burgers at London's Patty and Bun are a must-try.
The pop-ups to try
Among the highlights this year is the participation of international brands, the majority of which are debuting in the Middle East, such as London's beloved cupcake spot Peggy Porschen in the Shopping District.
The chic bakery has brought its pastel pink shop to Abu Dhabi for the first time, a move deemed long overdue by its owner Peggy Porschen herself.
"We've been in London for a few years now, and we have quite a good following of customers from the Middle East. I've been approached many times to comer over here," she tells The National on Thursday.
Although only a pop-up for now, Porschen said they are "currently in talks with several parties" to launch its first international outpost in the UAE.
The salted caramel cupcake is definitely a must-try. Other flavours will be available at the MOTN pop-up, including one that is especially made for the Abu Dhabi festival.
There are other fashion vendors that are selling a variety of products including Mariam Al Marar, who owns abaya brand Swan Cloak, which is participating at MOTN for the first time.
"I have a home-based business, so people typically just visit me at home, but now my sister pushed me to put myself out there and I like it," she said. Al Marar designs the abayas, with a strong focus on the "perfect fit".
Hers is one of many local businesses in the shopping district, which is definitely worth a visit to browse some cool items.
Another brand showcasing in Abu Dhabi for the first time is streetwear and vintage store Dukes Cupboard, located at the Inspire Space.
Originally from London, the brand sells products such as Supreme and Calvin Klein, as well as Chicago Bulls merchandise and more vintage apparel.
"We've done pop-ups in New York, Amsterdam and Paris, but first time in the Middle East," co-owner Milo Harley tells The National.
"We have lots of customers in our London shop from this part of the world, who seem to be interested in vintage and streetwear. We were keen to come out here when the opportunity popped up," he said.
When and where is MOTN happening?
The festival began on Friday and will run until December 18. It takes place on the Abu Dhabi Corniche.
Do I need to buy a ticket to attend?
Entry tickets start from Dh30, which provides all-day access to the free zones and attractions.
An additional Dh85 can provide access to the Cocomelon interactive exhibition, as well as several attractions within the amusement park and the Thrill Zone.
Another add-on bundle is for the immersive light experience at the MOTN Funhouse, featuring the Anima digital art installation. It costs Dh140.
Concerts have separate ticketing, with prices starting at Dh110.
More information is available at motn.ae
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OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
