Climbing frames, vertical drops and a zip line that soars over the capital’s Corniche are some of the activities on offer at this year’s Mother of the Nation Festival.
The ten-day festival, in its third year, is expected to attract adrenalin junkies, entertainment enthusiasts and knowledge-seekers alike when it opens on Thursday at Abu Dhabi’s new beachside development, A’l Bahar.
A myriad of live shows will be held in between organised group games and pit stops at this year’s “environmental food wing”, where food made with locally grown produce will be on offer.
A museum-like pavilion will celebrate Emirati women’s creativity across the ages and display some of their treasures.
Among such them are a large, intricate gold necklace called the ‘Zayed Medal’, which was given to the mother of the nation, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa on Mother’s Day in 2016.
Elsewhere on display is a burqaa studded with gold stones.
"Some of the gold is missing because there is a cute story behind this burqaa," explained Salama Al Shamsi, senior project manager at Zayed National Museum.
Its owner, Fatima Bint Mohamed bin Thani, was wearing it one day as she rode to her farm. Her driver stopped her to tell her that his wife had just given birth to a baby girl.
"She did not have anything on her to give him as a gift, so she ripped off some of the gold on the burqaa and gave it to him."
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Also on display is a pair of traditional gold earrings, known as ghawashi locally, that was given to the woman who helped Sheikha Fatima give birth to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
In another zone, of which there are six, visitors can learn about traditional Emirati healing food and how women would consume it to become stronger before and after giving birth.
Emirati women’s intellect will also be highlighted in the art, poetry and wisdom section. The grandmother’s corner displays stories shared by a grandmother in a book on life in the UAE between the 1930s and 1960s.
In the ‘Scents from Past’ area, visitors will learn about important historical scents "and how we are using them today," said Miss Al Shamsi.
A perfume that was given Maryam Al Tayer in 1980 by her husband, before they got married, is among the items on display. The bottle still contains the original perfume. Visitors will be able to listen to poems that refer to specific aromas and then smell those scents at the end of the corridor.
The festival, named after Sheikha Fatima, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, runs until March 31.
Afterwards the A'l Bahar project, which includes an outdoor gym, an on-water obstacle course and tree houses where children can learn to paint, will remain permanently open.
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
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
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On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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