Over 350,000 people visit Heritage Sites and Shopping Malls during the DTCM organised National Day Celebrations in Dubai

The massive line-up of exciting entertainment events organized by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) ran over a period of four days from December 2 to 5 to mark the 32nd UAE National Day attracted over 350,000 visitors to heritage sites and three shopping malls in Dubai and Hatta.

The celebration kicked off in the presence of Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and DTCM officials, including Marwan bin Beyat, DTCM Manager Events and Chairman of 32nd UAE National Day Festival Committee, and Eyad Ali Abdul Rahman, DTCM Manager, Media Relations.

The DTCM’s National Day Festival celebrations were conducted successfully under the supervision of a team of UAE national employees of the DTCM, including Abdul Salam Mubarak, Shaikha Al Mutawa, Zainab Mamoun, Aisha Butti, Safia bu Malha, and Nasser Juma.

Mr. bin Beyat said: “The response to the programmes has been overwhelming and far exceeded our expectations. People turned up in large numbers at all the venues, including the three shopping malls that were added to the list of venues for the first time this year.”

He added: “The events were full of entertainment and edutainment and were designed to reflect the cultural richness, diversity, and progress of the country. A lot of hard work and creative thinking has gone into the making of this year’s celebrations refreshingly different.”

The events included opera, street carnival, fireworks, photo exhibitions, stage and dance shows for the children, and cultural programmes.

Deira City Centre, Mercato, and BurJuman were added to the list of venues for the first time to ensure large participation.

The ‘Union Opera’, involving more than 60 children and traditional music and dance, was designed to express people’s love and support to the UAE leaders for facilitating fast progress and prosperity of the country through unity.

Visitors were offered glimpses into the making of the UAE and the country’s phenomenal progress in every sphere of life an exhibition of photographs taken by the UAE’s renowned photographers, Noor Ali Rashid and Ramesh Shukla.

Every day, a ‘Loyalty March for the Union Leaders’ took place at the picturesque Hatta Heritage Village, an hour’s drive from Dubai. The colourful parade featured three generations of UAE nationals in their traditional best.

The other programmes included ‘Knowing the Emirates’ competitions, traditional food demonstration, camel riding, face painting, ‘Union March’ exhibition, Police Band and Police Cavaliers shows, and Parachute Diving shows. 

Specially designed travel bags containing mementos like mugs, caps, T-shirts and UAE flags were distributed to the visitors at the venues.

The three shopping malls hosted ‘Kids Show’, ‘Ali Baba’s Adventures in the UAE’ and photo exhibitions on the UAE’s history and development right from the pre oil-boom days.

On the concluding day of the celebrations, the department, in association with the Emirates Culinary Guild, Noor Sunflower Oil and 16 of the leading Dubai hotels, prepared and distributed 32,000 date beignets.

A sponge cake weighing 3,200 kilograms and measuring 32 square metres was prepared on the second day of the festival at the Heritage Village by the chefs of the hotels operated by the Jumeirah International.

A total of 320 staff members from the Jumeirah International properties worked to finish the cake in a record 320 hours and it took about 90 minutes to distribute 32,000 pieces to the unprecedented crowds that thronged the venue.

The cake had the replicas of Dubai’s famous architectural landmarks - Jumeirah International’s world famous properties, including the world’s tallest hotel, Burj Al Arab.