The Expo 2020 International Exhibition in Dubai ended Thursday night with a concert. The saga unfolding on the stage with an Arabian style combined with a technological pyrotechnical show, as is traditional in the United Arab Emirates, could be seen not only by thousands of guests in the hall, but also by millions of people around the world, thanks to a live broadcast which was streamed online.
Performance of Christina Aguilera and Norah Jones, robot-operated horse with a young rider Mira Singh, daughter of the Belarusian-Indian couple living in the UAE, a grand piano playing a musician soaring in the air, light show and rain pouring on the stage, light show and fireworks - this is what everybody will remember of the closing ceremony of the exhibition.
23 million visitors in six months
"182 days... 192 countries... Millions of visitors... Saying goodbye to the Expo," Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, wrote on Twitter Thursday. - "We brought the world together for the biggest event ... at the most difficult time for humanity... in the most beautiful of all editions of the Expo. We have promised and delivered; we say what we do and we do what we say. The big things are yet to come, God willing." The organizers of the Dubai Expo have managed to meet their objectives and attract more than 23 million visitors to the exhibition.
As Sheikh Mohammed noted in his audio address at the closing ceremony, "Expo 2020 is not the end, it's a new beginning." "We have presented the world with another version of ingenuity that has touched the hearts and minds of every member of society," he said. - "Our sons and daughters proved their ability to overcome unprecedented hardships and challenges, and in every moment of this journey, we reflected the UAE values of love and hospitality".
An End and a New Beginning
The Emirates has been preparing for the Expo for eight years since Dubai was chosen in 2013 to host it and including the pandemic year of 2020, when after much doubt it was decided to postpone the Expo for a year but keep the round date of 2020 in its name. Over $7 billion was invested in creating the infrastructure, 240 million hours were spent on preparations and it all culminated in a six-month exhibition marathon packed with the latest technology, talking robots and forward-looking sunshades.
The next Expo 2025 international exhibition will be held in Osaka - the Japanese representatives were solemnly handed the flag of the event. And when the last participants of the Dubai exhibition will leave it, and some of the pavilions will be dismantled, the area will be turned into a business center and a futuristic tourist quarter. And the heart of this area, as during the Expo, will remain a huge lace dome and the UAE pavilion in the form of a falcon soaring in the sky.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS