The first NBA Abu Dhabi Games, Disney’s The Lion King, UFC 280 and the Wireless Festival are among the events set to take place in Abu Dhabi within the next six months.
The Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi announced the line-up of events for the winter season in a talk show-style launch held at Manarat Al Saadiyat on Thursday.
The calendar includes concerts by regional and international artists, sporting and e-sports events, immersive cultural festivals and live interactive family shows, along with theatre, opera and dance performances.
“Abu Dhabi Calendar has an incredible line-up of events to thrill and excite our residents and visitors this season,” said Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, director general for tourism at DCT — Abu Dhabi.
“We’re looking forward to sharing Abu Dhabi with the world by playing host to spectacular musical acts and action-packed global sport spectacles that will attract fans and families from across the globe.”
Music, film awards and Comic Con
Some of the highlights of the musical segment of the calendar include the Wireless Festival, the popular rap and urban music festival from London, which will be held in Abu Dhabi on March 4.
Sting is also set to perform at Etihad Arena as part of his critically acclaimed My Songs tour on January 27, with tickets to go on sale on Friday.
Two-time Academy Award winner A R Rahman will be making his debut in Abu Dhabi at Etihad Arena on October 29, while Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will return to the capital at Etihad Park on November 24.
The three-day Amplified Music Festival will take place from November 11 to 13 at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
Louvre Abu Dhabi will also host a series of concerts to celebrate its fifth anniversary, including one by Iraqi-Saudi singer Majid Al Mohandis on November 11 and Egyptian composer Omar Khairat on November 13.
Recognising the best in Bollywood, the IIFA Awards Abu Dhabi will return to the capital on February 11 for a star-studded weekend at Etihad Arena.
From December 1 to 3, a series of concerts will mark this year’s National Day celebrations at various locations.
Arab stars including Nancy Ajram, George Wassouf, Melhem Zein, Mouhamad Khairy, Wael Kfoury, Ahmed Saad, DJ Aseel, BiGSaM, Aziz Maraka and Siilawy will also be performing in Abu Dhabi in a series of concerts from October 14 to December 21.
The region’s largest pop culture festival, Middle East Film and Comic Con, will kick off in March.
Sports, e-Sports and a bit of 4x4
Highlights in sport include the NBA Abu Dhabi Games. The Atlanta Hawks and the 2020-21 NBA championship-winning Milwaukee Bucks will play two pre-season games at Etihad Arena on October 6 and 8, marking the first NBA games in the Arabian Gulf.
The NBA District will take place in conjunction with the NBA Abu Dhabi Games at Manarat Al Saadiyat from October 5 to 9.
It will feature music, media and art associated with NBA culture, while fans will be able to engage with NBA personalities, watch games, enjoy hands-on basketball activities and purchase limited-edition merchandise.
Also next month, UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev will be held on October 22 at Etihad Arena. The event will headline Abu Dhabi Showdown Week, which will take place from October 17 to 23, and will feature concerts, workshops, pool parties and citywide activations, with appearances from some of UFC's biggest stars.
In Matchroom Boxing, WBA Light-Heavyweight belt holder Dmitry Bivol will defend his world title against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez on November 5.
Blast, taking place on December 17 and 18, will pit eight of the world’s best e-sports organisations against each other for the coveted World Final trophy, a slice of a $1 million prize pool and a chance to claim bragging rights as the 2022 champions of Counter-Strike.
Liwa Festival will take place between November 22 to December 4 and feature Khaleeji concerts, culture and heritage activities, food stalls, an outdoor cinema and a night market.
Broadway, Blippi and Abu Dhabi Art
Disney’s famed Broadway musical The Lion King will be held over the course of a month at Etihad Arena, running from November 16 to December 10.
Disney on Ice will also return to the venue between October 12 and 16.
Mother of the Nation Festival will also offer family-friendly activities, celebrating cultural awareness. The event will return from December 9 to 18 and feature live entertainment by groups including Miami Band.
Blippi The Musical, a show by the popular children's entertainer and educator, will bring an energetic, live musical show for families from February 18 and 19 at Etihad Arena.
On the culinary side of the events calendar, Middle East and North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants will feature guest dinners and discussions alongside the reveal of the organisation’s picks for the top 50 restaurants in the region.
The annual fair Abu Dhabi Art is returning from November 16 to 20, bringing together local and international galleries, featuring exhibitions, artist commissions and installations.
Earlier that month, the Traditional Handicrafts Festival, an annual event held in Al Qattara Heritage District of Al Ain, will return from November 1 to 20, inviting visitors to experience traditional crafts by UAE artisans.
More information is available at visitabudhabi.ae
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
GROUPS AND FIXTURES
Group A
UAE, Italy, Japan, Spain
Group B
Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Russia
Tuesday
4.15pm: Italy v Japan
5.30pm: Spain v UAE
6.45pm: Egypt v Russia
8pm: Iran v Mexico
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
Leeds United 0
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
Scoreline
Syria 1-1 Australia
Syria Al Somah 85'
Australia Kruse 40'
Total eligible population
About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not
Where are the unvaccinated?
England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14%
The%20specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
SPECS
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Copa del Rey
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Semi-final, first leg
Wednesday (midnight UAE)
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
MATCH INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
UAE v Oman - abandoned
Oman v Namibia - abandoned
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
