During the New Year’s Eve celebrations at Al Wathba, where the largest fireworks display and drone show shattered four Guinness World Records, the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Abu Dhabi welcomed more than a million visitors.
The festival was attended by people from all over the UAE and around the world. Three records were set by impressive fireworks that lasted more than 40 minutes and one by a jaw-dropping drone show. As many as 3,000 drones took to the skies to create an extraordinary visual experience leading up to the countdown to 2023. At the same time, the much-anticipated fireworks went off at midnight, making it a nearly hour-long spectacle.
The event’s organizers emphasized that it was the region’s first of its kind and was recorded by Guinness World Records.
‘Hayakum,’ ‘World’s Coolest Winter,’ ‘Hello Future,’ ‘2022-2071,’ ‘Rashid Rover,’ and other large messages and shapes in a variety of colors were created by the spectacular drone swarm. A new record was set when the largest multirotor/drone QR code was created.
Formation of a record-breaking QR code Photo: Formation of a QR code that broke a record by Ashwani Kumar Photo: With fireworks that lasted for more than forty minutes, Ashwani Kumar broke three records for quantity, formation, and duration.
Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Alwaleed Osman noted that it was a tumultuous process to ensure that all guidelines and specifications were followed in breaking all four records. He confirmed that four records had been broken.
“I was at the site of the drone. I had to make sure that each drone was launched correctly. Then hurry back to see if the drones’ QR code could be read on a camera phone, “Osman told Khaleej Times.
He dashed to the control center for the fireworks to watch what was going on. Later, he watched the video footage in slow motion to see that all three records had been broken. The most pinwheels, most repeated firework image formations, and most girandola were all launched within 30 seconds, breaking previous records.
Osman went on to say, “We are pleased to be at the Sheikh Zayed Festival to witness its 2023 New Year’s celebrations, and we extend our congratulations to the organizers, who consistently break records every year in order to delightfully entertain the audience.”
