ABU DHABI // Several major roads in Abu Dhabi will be closed on Wednesday for the start of the Qasr Al Hosn festival.
Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street will be closed between Al Falah Street and Zayed The First Street, Al Nasr Street will be closed between Khalid Bin Al Walid Street and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Street, and Khalid Bin Al Waleed Street will be closed between Zayed The First Street and Al Nasr Street.
Zayed The First Street between Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street and Khalid Bin Al Walid Street will also be closed, as will 21st street between Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street and Mubarak Bin Mohammed Street.
The roads will be closed between 1.30pm and 6pm on Wednesday.
The annual festival will run until February 21.
During the festival, aspects of Emirati history are reenacted through performances, activities and workshops hosted by a mix of paid and volunteer staff.
The symbolic birthplace of Abu Dhabi, the fort represents centuries of Emirati history and the annual festival celebrates the UAE’s rich culture.
This year visitors will be able to take part in cultural workshops, enjoy live theatre and poetry nights, watch live performances that seek to revive the memory of Emirati folk songs, listen to tales of bedouin society through desert storytelling and witness the age-old pursuit of desert sports as falcons and other native birds swoop and dive to perform aerial acrobatics.
jbell@thenational.ae