A floating lake and drone-launched fireworks have been planned for the UAE's flagship show for the official 50th National Day celebrations in Hatta.
The creative performance will take place on a floating stage within a special lake built in the middle of Hatta Dam. The display will describe the enduring relationship between the Emirati people and nature.
Especially composed songs and poetry, fireworks, light displays and exciting water projections will add to the sense of occasion.
A huge team has worked on the live event, which will take place on December 2 for an invited audience and online. Additional ticketed shows will take place from December 4 until December 12.
Work started on the project 142 days ago, and 1,400 workers from 100 countries have put in 1,500,000 hours to build the floating stage.
The theatrical experience will focus on the relationship between people and nature, and the ties between Emiratis, their homeland and the environment.
The show will take visitors on a journey through the land’s history in the lead-up to the inception of the union and across the 50 years that followed.
Researchers looked into four different environments in the UAE, and studied the flora and fauna that are widespread in the country.
They also looked at how people used to live, their livelihoods and their folklore, said Saeed Al Suwaidi, head of research from Bani & Al Culture, a research agency that focuses on culture, art and creativity.
"We sat also down with the elderly, who told stories of historical figures who had an indirect relationship with nature," he said.
Shaikha Al Ketbi and Es Devlin, the artistic directors of the UAE 50th National Day Executive team, said the show is designed to express Emirati culture through performance.
Deirat Al-Duroor Wa Al-Tawala’a, an astronomical system related to zodiacal and climatic conditions, was a source of inspiration, Ms Devlin said.
The Duroor system divides the days of the year into 36 sections, with each section including 10 days known as “Dur”.
This system allowed people to know the appropriate times for planting and harvesting, climatic variables such as winds and rain, the breeding seasons of fish and appropriate times for fishing, as well as the migration of wild birds and sea birds.
Al-Duroor calculations are linked with the rise of the Suhail star.
"The ancient Duroor system, which really was from the earliest times, shows evidence that Emiratis and the planet have been coexisting as instinctive engineers from the very beginnings of time," said Ms Devlin, who also worked on the 49th National Day event.
"So a symbiotic relationship with the weather, with the time of year, with the constellations, with the tides has always been something that's been at the heart of Emirati culture and practice.
"The show aims to look at the very deep past of this, while looking ahead to a future in which this could help with some of the crises we currently face."
A ground-breaking stage
The technical challenges the team faced in building the stage will add to the drama of the spectacle.
"What's extraordinarily special about this show is not only the fact that it is a stage that is set up in the middle of the Hatta dam, floating in this beautiful landscape, but it also has introduced so much new technology in terms of pyrotechnics and water projections," Ms Al Ketbi said.
The dam is so deep, the team were required to build a floating lake on top of the water – something that has never been done before.
"The whole show floats, the audience floats," Ms Devlin said.
"We've explored some new ways of using less pyrotechnics to elevate the fireworks into the air. So we're using drones to lift the firework to a height, and then we use a combination of drone and firework to create a new illusion, that I certainly haven't worked with before.
"In addition, we're creating projections in mid-air through the use of water screens, as well as a huge sculptural element that again is floating. So all of these things are pushing engineering to its limits here in Hatta."
A musical celebration
New music, songs and poetry have been composed to celebrate the Year of the 50th, and an orchestra will perform the new works.
Mohammed Al Ahmed, the music composer from the organisational team, said they have focused this year on the works of Al Nadba and Al Ruwah.
Al Nadba is a famous cultural dance in the UAE, particularly in Ras Al Khaimah while Al Ruwah involves dance and music in which men play drums that are often made from sidr trees.
"There are many Emirati arts; the role of the team here is to fuse these Emirati forms of art with international music," Mr Al Ahmed said.
"The role of the music team is to introduce you in a way that will surprise you."
"We will hear other performances, such as Al Ayala, Al Harbiya, Sea Hadwat and arts related to agriculture."
Watch the show
Tickets for the open-air shows can be brought from the UAE National Day's official website.
Visitors will need to show proof that they are fully vaccinated or must have a negative PCR test result from 72 hours before the event.
The show starts at 5pm and finishes at 6pm, although visitors are advised to arrive 20 minutes early. The cost of tickets is Dh300. Each performance can seat around 400 people.
How to get there
Getting to Hatta involves a journey of about 90 minutes by car from Dubai; the Sharjah-Kalba route is typically the fastest.
From Abu Dhabi, it is about a two-and-a-half-hour road trip. If you are coming by public transport, you will need to get to Al Sabkha Bus Station in Dubai where you can hop on the E16 bus. The bus takes a little more than two hours to reach Hatta. There are several hotels and resorts where visitors can stay.
UAE National Day celebration to take place in Hatta - in pictures
