Mother of the Nation Pavilion
Last weekend, the Mother of the Nation festival officially kicked off in Abu Dhabi! This is my absolute favourite event, filled with interactive activities, nom-ilicious dining, and superb live entertainment! I was so excited when the first festival launched a few years ago (click here to refresh your memory), however this year is bigger, better, and much more colourful! The format this year features 6 main zones: Happiness, Progress, Main Stage, Souq, Beach Dining, and Mother of the Nation Pavilion. The hubs are scattered along the pristine shores of Abu Dhabi’s Corniche where I have seen the most beautiful sun sets while listening to the waves lapping.
Here are the highlights per zone:
Happiness: filled with activities for the kids such as zip lines, arts & crafts corners, a Zorb arena and a nature safari surrounded by glowing flowers.
Progress: the biggest highlight is the Alzad: World of Food Pavilion which showcases all the locally grown food in the UAE! Did you know we grow our own strawberries? 🙂 There is also a Chef’s Challenge arena where anyone can register for session, free flying, so much more!
Souq: lots of shopping available whether you are looking for home decor of fashion!
Beach Dining: food trucks galore! I can’t believe how many different type of trucks are present this year, from waffles to samosas and everything in between! A few of my favourites include: WOFL, Crepeaholic, 3abali, Shot, and This is Hot Dog and so many more!
Mother of the Nation Pavilion: paying tribute to all the initiatives done by H.H Sheikha Fatima, this pavilion also hosts talks by inspirational leaders in our community like H.E Sara Al Madani who highlights women as leaders and Dina Al Farouki who discusses the food, body and mind connection – to name a few!
I absolutely LOVE the line up of live entertainment and signature events this year such as: Daneel Sayegh, a top 5 finalist in Arab’s Got Talent and SUPERB drummer and Harget Kart who mash up the best English and Arabic tunes. I watched the Dancing Fire show which was literally a dancing fire suspended above the water and am TOTALLY bummed that I will miss the “Year of Zayed” Drone Show featuring 500 drones – a first time in the Middle East, and of course, closing fireworks on 31st March! Go check it out – there are still 4 days left! 🙂
xo,
Marina
Visit Information:
Website: http://www.motn.ae
Ticket price: AED 25 per adult, AED 12 per child (ages 2 – 12)
Opening times: Sun – Thurs: 4pm – midnight, Fri & Sat: 2pm – midnight (until 31st March 2018)
Location: Abu Dhabi Corniche
Social Media: @motnfestival
Disclaimer: All views are my own and all photographs are © My Sweet Escapes.
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