See: 8 record-breaking achievements from Expo 2020 Dubai

Dubai, with its police supercars and gold bar vending machines, often features in international headlines for breaking world records. Over the years, Dubai has managed to collate an entire library worth of records that have wowed the world. At the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai, in October, the emirate is planning on adding to that collection with a queue of world records by the fair and its country participants.

LARGEST EVENT IN THE ARAB WORLD. Expo 2020 Dubai, which spans an area of 438 hectares, is a site that will welcome more than 200 entities – countries, businesses and organisations. More than 25 million visits are expected from people including artists, academics, culinary masterminds, business giants and pop-stars.

WORLD’S LARGEST 360-DEGREE PROJECTION DOME. At Expo 2020 Dubai, the Al Wasl Plaza dome is at the site’s core standing 67.5 metres high and 130 metres wide. This versatile artistic structure designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture functions as a shade during the day and transforms into a magical blanket covering the sky with cinematic projections at night. There are 252 laser projectors pointed towards the Al Wasl Plaza dome that will project images onto it that can be viewed from both inside and out. It lies at the intersection of the three main districts of the Expo site.

WORLD’S LARGEST PASSENGER LIFT. Located at the heart of the Mobility Pavilion, the lift can carry approximately 160 people at once – this capacity is currently at 38 based on current social distancing restrictions. You can hop on to the lift and see an exhibit showcasing three Arab explorers – Ibn Battuta, Al Bakri and Ibn Majid. You can also learn about other historical icons of mobility, the innovations that paved the way for our modern-day technology and the future of travel and space at this pavilion.

LARGEST INTERACTIVE LIGHTING FLOOR AT THE SAUDI ARABIA PAVILION. In December 2020, Expo’s Saudi Arabia Pavilion achieved a total of three Guinness World Records. The second-largest pavilion (13,000 square metres) on Expo grounds has the largest interactive lighting floor with 7,998 LED lights in its art exhibition called ‘Vision’. In this space, the exhibit will present visitors with an audio-visual rendering of the Kingdom’s culture brought to life by renowned Saudi artists.

LONGEST INTERACTIVE WATER FEATURE. At more than 32 metres long, the installation is the reason a second Guinness World Record was won by the Saudi Arabia Pavilion. This digital water curtain is embedded with interactive points through which visitors can influence the images and displays on the construct.

LARGEST LED MIRROR SCREEN. At 1302.5 square metres, the digital LED screen stretched across the belly of the pavilion is the world’s biggest, making it the third record set by the Saudi Pavilion. Designed by Seville-based Boris Micka Associates, the pavilion building is raised towards the sky, embodying the country’s participatory theme of ‘The Sky is the Limit’.

WORLD'S LARGEST JIU-JITSU TRAINING SESSION BY THE BRAZIL PAVILION. On November 15, 2021, the UAE is set to break its own Guinness World Record of the largest jiu-jitsu training session ever hosted, which was achieved by the UAE Jui-Jitsu Federation in 2015. Jiu-jitsu is one of the most popular sports in Brazil, with over 2.5 million practitioners officially registered at the Jiu-Jitsu Federation, and the country is bringing a token of its culture across the Atlantic Ocean to share their love for the sport.

CLEAN ENERGY FROM WORLD’S LARGEST SINGLE-SITE SOLAR PARK. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) will supply Expo 2020 Dubai with 464 megawatts of renewable energy from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. It is the largest single-site solar park in the world. The move is in line with the fair’s sustainable goals to have 50 per cent of its energy needs met through clean sources. The park also houses the first industrial-scale green hydrogen facility in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, which will power fuel-cell vehicles at Expo.