How UAE epic Eid Al Etihad show came to be
Stunning animation, camels on display and the memorable Harbiya bedouin dance – the Eid Al Etihad show this year was something to behold as it swept people along through the UAE’s journey. The gigantic, thousands-person stage show required three months to organise, a spokesperson has said.
Organising such a huge event "required a lot of thought, expertise and a very efficient team", Eisa Alsubousi, Strategic and Creative Lead of the Organising Committee of the 53rd Eid Al Etihad, explained.
Shown on 2 December in Al Ain, it played out on the biggest stage ever set up for the UAE’s National Day. "Work on the event started in September 2024, a team was working on a complete roadmap to manage everything from guest experience to field team logistics.
Its star is built by 10,000 people of 81 nationalities, including expats, Emiratis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. ‘Hundreds of experts in visual arts, design, history, culture, archaeology and the environment collaborated’ on the success of the festival, Alsubousi explained.
They used a number of cutting-edge technologies to also put together a highly immersive game.
Advanced technology
‘We did projection mapping on the stage, and several projectors came in and showed really crisp images, lighting effects added some amazing visual dimension,’ he said. ‘Drones were everywhere, they came together in the form of palm trees and invention drawings. We used 20 camels too to be on stage," he added.
The series also showed how technology could be used to conserve nature, he said, and celebrated local efforts. "We wanted to show how things such as AI in medicine or specialised satellites can solve global problems from underwater drilling to space missions," he said.
"We worked with institutions in UAE to introduce innovative solutions such as Archireef, AquaAi Intelligence, Hyvegeo, Med42, and Space42, local solutions achieving both sustainability and innovation." said Mr. A.H.
Nature – the storyteller
Eisa said the author Maryam Al Dabbagh had visioned a play in which nature was the main narrator. "The peculiar story evoked the constellations, the oases and the structures like Al Thuraya (Pleiades) and Jebel Hafeet, as well as a narration to natural beings," he said. "The incredible thing about the show was that it had an emotional connection with nature, and it’s nature who tells the story.
Al Ain was chosen for the ceremony because of its beauty and history, he said. ‘The festival was dedicated to Al Ain’s most well-known archeological excavations, the Jebel Hafeet Tombs from the Early Bronze Age 5,000 years ago,’ he continued. ‘It also visited the old oases, the fortresses, the terraced houses, the mosques and the markets of the city.
Hili Archaeological Park (Umm Al Nar) and the ancient irrigation system of Falaj were also mentioned.
Organising it in the Unesco-protected Jebel Hafeet Desert Park meant that they had to play by all rules and regulations, lest nature be damaged. "From the time we picked the location, we worked with the authorities in Abu Dhabi that were responsible for maintaining the protected area and making sure the site was left as it was at the time of the incident," he said. ‘Everything we built this year was temporary and was demolished when the party ended.
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