HIGHLIGHTS OF DUBAI EXPO 2020

The event in Dubai promises to be no less remarkable. Indeed, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had promised that Expo 2020 would ‘astonish the world’. The exhibition celebrates innovation and ingenuity in keeping with the major theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, alongside sub-themes of ‘Opportunity’, ‘Mobility’ and ‘Sustainability’ – perhaps the major global challenge of our time. It was expected to attract 25 million visitors during its six-month run, with 70 percent of those coming from outside the Emirates.

1. More than 100 robots manufactured in China greet visitors, deliver food, help with directions and take photographs.
2. There are two-hour Khaleeji-led “jam sessions” once a month, called Jalsat Nights @Expo.
3. More than 30,000 volunteers have signed up to help at Expo 2020 Dubai. Emiratis make up 61 per cent of all 18 to 24 year olds within the workforce. UAE residents of numerous nationalities make up the remainder.
4. The Korean pavilion has showcased the best of K-Pop, with several bands booked to perform, including Stray Kids, who have been appointed pavilion ambassadors.
5. Multi-sensory studio Bompas & Parr will host a theatrically decadent, multisensory experience at Expo 2020 Dubai, entitled “Introducing The Future of Food: Epochal Banquet”. The two-hour culinary odyssey will take place in September.
6. Opti, a golden robot known as the guardian of the Opportunity Pavilion, is an Expo mascot.
7. India’s four-storey structure and facade is made up of 600 individual blocks that are capable of kinetic movements, symbolising “India on the Move”.
8. Expo 2020 Metro Station, with an aircraft wing design, was built to take passengers to the entrance of the World Fair. It is the final station on Dubai’s new Route 2020 and can hold 29,000 people per hour during peak hours.
9. The World Chess Championship was hosted at Expo 2020 in November.
10. Israel’s pavilion is themed around a sand dune, with an open design so people can interact with the exhibits even if they do not enter the structure.
11. The Spanish pavilion included a hyperloop vehicle made by Zeleros. The craft arrived in July.
12. Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Arabic Language Day, World Poetry Day and Mother’s Day were all celebrated at Expo 2020 Dubai, with events held in a specially built amphitheatre.
13. Australia’s pavilion mascots are called Wattle and Jali, who are a koala and a butterfly. Jali means tree in the Bundjalung indigenous language, and like a tree Jali is an old spirit that connects the above with the below.
14. Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman has recruited a group of female musicians to join an all- women ensemble for Expo 2020 Dubai. The Firdaus Orchestra will perform several times during the world fair.
15. There will be daily fitness sessions held in the Expo 2020 Dubai park, from jogging to cycling tours.
16. Sweden’s pavilion is called “The Forest”. The wooden structure is designed to reduce CO2 emissions and act as a carbon sink.
17. Expo 2020 Dubai has a Youth Pavilion built and managed entirely by young people, for young people. An open creative space, it is designed to be a centre- point for youth activities at the world fair.
18. The disc-shaped Sustainability Pavilion is entirely operated by solar energy. Each E-Tree has an average of 120 rotating solar panels and follows the sun from sunrise to sunset.
19. Expo 2020 Dubai is not just about entertainment! Business leaders will be encouraged to connect, and budding entrepreneurs will be nurtured under the Thrive Together programme, designed to leverage the connecting power of the world fair.
20. Every morning from October 1, thousands of students from schools in the UAE have been hosting songs and dance shows inside the massive Al Wasl dome.
21. The Australia pavilion is planning to host a cricket exhibition match.
22. Britons living in the UAE should mark February 10 in their diary, as that is when UK National Day will be celebrated at Expo 2020 Dubai.
23. Fancy a snack? Head to Singapore’s pavilion where chefs from some of the city’s most famous restaurants and street stalls serve traditional coffee and snacks, including tapioca, green bean fritters, traditional chicken and beef satay.
24. A shaded area in Expo 2020 Dubai called Ghaf Avenue is named after the traditional trees that grow in the UAE desert and provide a habitat for so many insects and mammals.
25. Celebrated singer Ragheb Alama and Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi are both booked to perform during Expo 2020 Dubai.
26. The exterior of Russia’s colourful pavilion echoes the concept of the traditional matryoshka wooden stacking dolls, and the interior design is modelled on a similar concept, with a small entrance leading to a much wider space within.
27. Expo 2020 Dubai runs 10 theme weeks throughout the six- month extravaganza. The first tackled climate and biodiversity, and the second space. Other themes include tolerance and inclusivity, travel and connectivity, and food, agriculture and livelihoods.
28. Morocco’s pavilion is made entirely of rammed earth, using a traditional Moroccan construction technique to create 22 stacked rectangular sections. It was inspired by the Moroccan villages of the south.
29. The Expo 2020 Dubai site is bigger than 600 football fields.
30. Russian ballerinas and principal dancers from Moscow’s famous Bolshoi Theatre will perform during Expo 2020 Dubai.
31. The US pavilion has an enormous model of the Space X Falcon 9 booster on display, plus Moon rock samples brought back by Apollo missions.
32. Singapore’s pavilion is built on the smallest plot, but plans to make a big impact with hanging gardens, exotic flowers and edible plants. Its designers aim to show how nature can thrive in a limited space.
33. The attractions at the newly revealed Saudi pavilion break three Guinness World Records. The structure features the largest interactive floor, the longest water feature and the biggest screen.