Global Village will host seven fireworks displays this year

Global Village, a family destination will host its biggest ever New Year’s Eve celebrations this year with seven huge fireworks displays.

The displays will take place between 8pm and 1am, keeping in sync with New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world.

As the clock nears 8pm UAE time, the countdown will begin for the first fireworks display in sync with the New Year in China. The next display will be at 9pm to mark New Year in Thailand. There will be five more displays every hour to match New Year in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, UAE and Russia.

At midnight in the UAE, the biggest fireworks display of the season will light up Dubai skies to ring in a rather colorful 2019.

As plans are underway for the massive fireworks at the village, Gulf News goes behind the scenes to show you the effort that goes behind arranging such a massive display.

According to Bader Anwahi, CEO of Global Village, there is a degree of caution taken by not just the organisers but Dubai Police and Dubai Civil Aviation Authority to ensure every fireworks display is safely conducted.

“The site from where the fireworks are launched is 300 metres from the Global Village and is located in the desert area of Dubailand. This year there are five launch spots, each within 100 metres of the other. At least two people work nearly eight hours every Thursday and Friday to put everything in place for a display,” said Anwahi.

Mandatory approvals

According to Global Village, the management has to get approvals from Dubailand authorities for every fireworks display. In addition, the Village must get a go-ahead from Dubai Police and Dubai Civil Aviation Authority before every show.

“All explosives are placed at sites approved by Dubai Police. They [the police] transport the explosive shells to the site on the day of the show. As the site is close to the Royal Airbase, we have to get an approval from the Dubai Civil Aviation before we go ahead with the show,” said Anwahi.

This year 500 kilos of explosives in 1,100 shells are being fired for every five-minute display. The explosives are placed in a particular manner to create a desired pattern in the sky. The shells differ in size with the smallest being 2.5 inches in diameter and can travel a distance of 65 metres upwards, while the biggest is eight inches in diameter and can go as high as 200 metres.

The shells are said to have been sourced from China.

Anwahi said: “This year we hosted more than a hundred thousand guests at key events this season and we expect this number to be bigger for New Year’s Eve.”

Besides the stunning firework displays, on New Year’s Eve, there will also be family-friendly entertainment including a Superloop stunt show, character performances for the little ones on the Main Stage and a performance from American’s Got Talent stars, “Malevo”.

Doors open at 4pm, with the theme park staying open until the later time of 2am.

Tickets will be priced at the regular entry cost of just Dhs15. A family pack of four tickets, a Carnaval card with Dhs100 credit, two Cheeky Monkeys daycare coupons, one restaurant discount voucher with 15 per cent off and a car park pass is priced at Dhs249 on New Year’s Eve and can be bought from the Guest Care Centre at the theme park.