DUBAI // The emirate put on yet another spectacular fireworks display on New Year’s Eve as more than one and a half million people were estimated to have gathered around Burj Khalifa to ring in 2015.
With a six-part firework, laser and record-breaking LED show, the emirate’s downtown area and the world’s tallest building were transformed into one of the brightest illuminations yet seen.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists gathered in Dubai last night to witness the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Robert Ronaldo, 44, and his mother Maria Callmann, 70, flew from Brazil to watch the Burj Al Arab pyrotechnics.
“We flew 15 hours for the New Year celebrations,” Mr Ronaldo said. “We’ve seen them on television, and although we have great celebrations for the new year in Brazil, they only last about 10 minutes.
“We heard it’s more than 20 or 30 minutes here, so we are really looking forward to them.”
The mother and son spent yesterday on the public beach near Burj Al Arab to save a spot with the best view of the fireworks.
“Hopefully, there won’t be too much traffic to get back to Media City once we are done,” Mrs Callmann said.
“Dubai is such a wonderful place. I’m now considering buying a property here.”
Dr Mohanlal Garg from Singapore was enjoying his first New Year’s Eve celebrations in the emirate yesterday.
“We have heard a lot about these fireworks and we flew all the way from Singapore to see them,” he said. “We were very excited.”
Dr Garg and his son-in-law, Sumit Sharma, watched the fireworks in the vicinity of the Burj Khalifa.
“This is my 25th visit to Dubai for the new year,” said Mr Sharma.
“Our hotel warned us about traffic congestion but we were looking forward to watching the fireworks so much.”
American Lisa Anthony arrived in Dubai with her 12-year-old daughter from Atlanta, Georgia last week.
“I was really looking forward to the fireworks, which were spectacular,” she said.
“The environment is quite different to what we have back home and it’s just lovely to be here.”
Kimberly Mahmud, a Dubai resident for the past seven years, debated whether to watch the fireworks from a rooftop in Al Barsha or in the Al Furjan villa area.
“People last year got stuck for over nine hours trying to get home,” she said.
“But we lived in the marina for a while and we’ve always been right there in the middle of it. We know the fireworks are amazing, energetic and they certainly represent the transition to the new year, so everybody was excited.”
Jordanian Bashar Hammoudeh, 28, flew from Amman to watch the fireworks at Burj Khalifa.
“I decided to spend New Year’s Eve in Dubai mainly because my friends from all around the world – Hong Kong, Singapore and Greece – had decided to meet here due to the city’s strategic location and the many friends we have living there,” he said.
“Dubai has always been a leader in creating breathtaking countdown moments and firework shows during New Year’s Eve, so I just had to scratch that off my bucket list.”
Sreejesh C V, a 33-year-old Indian resident of Sharjah, said he had planned to see the fireworks from the Burj Khalifa area but decided to stay in Zabeel Park because of the traffic congestion.
“All my friends and I wanted to go there but as we were all working in Karama until the evening, by 6pm the traffic was already really bad,” he said.
Amritesh Pratap Singh, 28, agreed. “Our aim was to reach Zabeel Park by 11pm to have a look at the fireworks,” he said.
“It’s my first year in Dubai and I find the fireworks to be fascinating. I had heard so much about them. It was an exciting thing to see and it attracted people from all around the world.”
Although Jordanian Khadija Massoud spent the whole of yesterday in Zabeel Park with her four children, she watched the fireworks from Al Barsha.
“We had a perfect view of Burj Al Arab,” she said.
“The kids enjoyed watching the fireworks. It was amazing.”
Last year, an estimated 1.7 million people went to the Downtown area for new year’s eve.
cmalek@thenational.ae
