The New Year’s Eve celebrations at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Festival have done more than entertain and amaze visitors–they’ve broken four Guinness World Records!
Sheikh Zayed is one of the largest heritage festivals of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The fireworks and drones lit up the night sky for slightly over one hour, a first for the Middle East region.
Three of the records were for the fireworks display, and the drone show also set a new record, according to news agency WAM.
The new Guinness World Records are the following:
- Most girandola fireworks (set in 30 seconds)
- Most fireworks pinwheels (set in 30 seconds)
- Most repeated firework image (set in 30 seconds)
- Biggest drone-produced formation of a QR code.
NYE 2023 in Abu Dhabi: a capital idea
Over one million Emiratis and foreigners visited Al Wathba to ring in the new year with firework displays, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) shows, according to GulfNews.com.
The biggest fireworks show lasted over 40 minutes, and over 3,000 drones flew in various colors and formations. A welcome message concluded the magnificent show.
Sheikh Zayed Festival announced the event and shared a video on its Instagram account.
According to HankeringForHistory.com, China shared its knowledge of gunpowder and fireworks creation with Middle Eastern countries in the 1200s.
A trending tradition of records
The organizers of the 2023 New Year’s celebrations at the Sheikh Zayed Festival aim yearly to break world records. The New Year’s event also featured a fountain and laser light show.
Here are a few (out of hundreds) of the world records held by the UAE, according to the Dubai Travel Planner:
Largest mall: Dubai Mall features 1.1 million square meters and almost 12 million square feet of retail space.
Highest tower: Burj Khalifa is a spectacular 828m (2,716.5 feet) tall, earning other world records like the world’s highest restaurant and lounge.
World’s most leaning tower: No, it’s surprisingly not Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa. Architects intentionally designed the Capital Gate Tower in the UAE to lean 18 degrees to the west.
Deepest swimming pool: Deep Dive in Dubai is a 160-meter deep indoor pool with a capacity of 14 million liters of water. The pool is so deep you can scuba dive!
Largest Christmas ornament: Did you know that about one-quarter of Dubai is Christian? The Dubai Mall displayed the huge ornament in 2018, featuring a massive 4.68m (15.35 foot) diameter and an amazing 1,100kg (2425 lb.) weight.
Fastest roller coaster: Even the name sounds fast! The Formula Rossa reaches a speed of 0 to 240 km/h in a mere 4.9 seconds.
Largest dancing fountain show: The opening of the Palm Fountain 2020 made it the world’s largest.
Longest zipline: Jebel Jais zipline in Ras Al Khaimah. The attraction opened in 2018 and spanned 2,831.88m (9,291 ft).
Largest hand-woven carpet: This item covers the floor of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. The Persian carpet measures an astounding 5,630 m² (60,600.81 ft²) and took 1,200 weavers over a year to complete.
Largest indoor climbing wall: Abu Dhabi’s theme parks on Yas Island hold this world record.
Largest cup of hot tea: Dubai’s Global Village set this record in January 2018 with the big brew measuring 5,000 liters (1,320.86 gallons).
The Sheikh Zayed Festival will welcome visitors daily from 4 pm until midnight on weekdays and weekends until March 18, 2023.
Image from Emirati Times
