The sprawling site of Expo 2020 Dubai offers several attractions for families of all ages. The whole thing is a spectacular show and its taster menu of different pavilions will expose children to the cuisines, crafts, and architecture of countries around the world.
The organisers have clearly catered for families as visitor centres around the park offer breastfeeding rooms – in welcome full-blast air-conditioning – and there are a number of ways to navigate the areas.
LIVE BLOG: Updates and live coverage from Expo 2020 Dubai
These include bikes with child seats attached (available to hire) and the Expo Express, the cheery cross between a train and a golf buggy that serves the main arteries. There are also playgrounds (Latifa’s Adventures and Rashid’s World), and the Around the World merry-go-round in Mobility, roughly opposite the Belgium Pavilion.
Below are some top-billed attractions but an expected joy of Expo 2020 is bouncing from country to country in the network of smaller pavilions, from Suriname to Guyana to Timor-Leste. These are often less crowded than the major sites, and while your children might know something about the national dishes of, say, Thailand, the tea in Ethiopia could be more of a surprise.
Finally, a word on timing. Expo comes alive at night, when it’s cooler and the attractions are lit up. The pavilions’ amazing architecture often incorporates lights, from the ticker-tape messages of the Saudi Arabia Pavilion and the LED memos of the United Kingdom’s to the kinetic block-swapping of the extraordinary Korean building.
Until the weather cools down during the day, it’s worth pushing bedtime to let the little ones experience it – grab dinner at one of the pavilions (Chinese? Estonian?) and take in the performances hosted on a regular basis by the pavilions.
Here are six not-to-miss attractions to visit at Expo 2020 Dubai:
Hammour House
This brick-lattice-worked site, near the gate to the Mobility section, will host daily art workshops for children throughout Expo 2020’s six months.
The programme highlights the continued destruction of the ocean’s coral reefs – which they will metaphorically work to redress, by painting 3D designs of the blanched reefs.
Their creations will then be dotted around the House’s small garden, circling a hammour fish made out of recycled “ghost fishing nets” – fishing nets that are left in the sea as debris.
Al Wasl Dome
The flair of this spectacular light show will no doubt be familiar thanks to the opening ceremony, which showed off how a 360º projection fills the dome after dark.
Even for a country that thinks it’s seen a spectacle or two, it’s pretty amazing. Dot-matrix-like printing of traditional woven patterns gives way to the dome as an opera house, with dancers leaping from archway to archway.
The Water Feature
Granted one’s appreciation of the Water Feature was probably aided by the heat and the humidity of the first few days of Expo – but this will be a boon for younger and older children alike, and their trailing, ailing parents.
Imagine an enormous bowl with water cascading down the sides to a soundtrack by Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi. The choreography, by the group WET, is mesmerising as well as interactive. Visitors can stand and run up the shallow sides of the bowl, paddling around and getting their feet wet – just be prepared for a queue on hot days.
Afra Al Dhaheri’s Pillow Fort
Expo 2020 commissioned an exemplary art programme for the event, all designed as public sculptures that people are welcome to touch and engage with.
Emirati artist Afra Al Dhaheri took inspiration from the pillow forts she and her siblings made when they were young, and created a marble sculpture that looks like a soft and billowing arch, with the carving that mimics the floral patterns and scalloped edgings familiar to Khaleeji childhoods.
Though adults might appreciate the trompe l’oeil effect and its nostalgic evocations of days gone by, children will have a way with those fancy terms and do what they’re meant to do: muck in and play.
Desert Farm
There’s a lot to learn just by encountering the different cultures at Expo 2020, but the Desert Farm is a dedicated learning centre where children can learn about the kinds of plants that grow naturally in the desert, and gaze at the fish endemic to the Arabian Sea.
The Desert Farm is near Latifa’s Adventure playground, a grassy expanse, and Al Dhaheri’s pillow fort (all in the purple-signposted areas, behind the falcon-like UAE Pavilion), making this area a good section to park in if the main Expo site is leaving everyone a little frazzled.
Pakistan Pavilion
It is hard to choose a favourite among the major pavilions: the Luxembourg Pavilion has a slide! The Netherlands harvests water out of thin air and Egypt brought a mummy! But for sustained room-on-room wonder, we like the Pakistan Pavilion, located in the Opportunity District, which is signposted in orange.
The architecture, of a multicoloured network of separate hillocks, makes it a cool building to enter and the country’s presentation combines spectacular videography of its extraordinary landscape: think pink Himalayan salt rocks and an intricately carved wooden boat. A very decent selection of Pakistani handicrafts such as block-printed napkins, and a popular restaurant on the ground floor make this a one-stop shop for family joys.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Fight Night
FIGHT NIGHT
Four title fights:
Amir Khan v Billy Dib - WBC International title
Hughie Fury v Samuel Peter - Heavyweight co-main event
Dave Penalosa v Lerato Dlamini - WBC Silver title
Prince Patel v Michell Banquiz - IBO World title
Six undercard bouts:
Michael Hennessy Jr v Abdul Julaidan Fatah
Amandeep Singh v Shakhobidin Zoirov
Zuhayr Al Qahtani v Farhad Hazratzada
Lolito Sonsona v Isack Junior
Rodrigo Caraballo v Sajid Abid
Ali Kiydin v Hemi Ahio
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Fourth-round clashes for British players
- Andy Murray (1) v Benoit Paire, Centre Court (not before 4pm)
- Johanna Konta (6) v Caroline Garcia (21), Court 1 (4pm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic
Power: 169bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh54,500
On sale: now
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
