Dubai Shopping Festival is in full swing, running until January 29.
Raffles and retail therapy aside, drone shows are a big draw across the city. To celebrate, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment is hosting two drone shows every night.
They are being performed at The Beach, JBR, at 7pm and on Bluewaters Island at 10pm.
"The two shows are united by an overarching concept to explore conceptual ideas surrounding technology, robotics and the future, with an intricate network of light from the aerial drones to develop the theme and illustrate the story of Dubai,” organisers say.
Each show lasts for five minutes and viewers are provided with augmented reality headsets. The first follows a day in the life of a tourist, encompassing Dubai International Airport, famous sites of the shopping festival and fireworks. The second is set in the metaverse, giving users a glimpse of how Dubai could look in 2040.
Scroll through the gallery above to see drone shows hosted by the UAE over the years
The spectacle is not the first time the Emirates has put on captivating drone shows.
In Abu Dhabi, the ongoing Sheikh Zayed Festival opened in Al Wathba with a show featuring hundreds of drones forming moving images depicting President Sheikh Mohamed, UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and the late President, Sheikh Khalifa. The drones also depicted falcons and messages in Arabic.
Last year, Dubai Shopping Festival ran two daily drone shows set to Rashed Al-Majed and RedOne’s Ya Salam Ya Dubai, the Expo 2020 anthem This is Our Time and David Guetta’s global hit Titanium featuring Sia.
Expo 2020 Dubai regularly hosted drone shows, too, with the robots taking to the sky in the form of shape-shifting bright golden dots at the China pavilion, changing from leaves and trees to stars and butterflies, as well as during the countdown to 2022 and a formation tracing the number 50 during National Day celebrations last December.
In 2019, ABOVE: Aerial Photography Exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat showcased an array of urban and natural landscapes captured by drones and aircraft. That same year, Dubai Police set a new Guinness World Record for most consecutive formations made by the same set of drones displaying an image of Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
In 2018, the Abu Dhabi skyline came to life with 500 Intel “shooting star” drones. The LED drones hovered several metres above visitors and lit up the sky with the Year of Zayed logo during the Mother of the Nation Festival.
RESULTS
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Rajeh, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi (trainer)
6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes – Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Get Back Goldie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Sovereign Prince, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 – Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Hot Rod Charlie, William Buick, Doug O’Neill
8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Withering, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
9.30pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Creative Flair, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
List of alleged parties
- May 15 2020: Boris Johnson is said to have attended a Downing Street pizza party
- 27 Nov 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
- Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
- Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
- Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters
- Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
- Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
