Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the follow up of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, the Sheikh Zayed Festival 2023 will take place in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi from 17 November 2023 until 9 March 2024, celebrating the UAE’s heritage through numerous entertainment and cultural events.

This year’s agenda will feature a wide range of events, programmes and activations, focusing on heritage, grounding the UAE’s roots and keeping current generations linked to the country’s history and heritage.

To set this edition apart from previous editions, the Higher Organising Committee of the Sheikh Zayed Festival developed the programme in a way that ensures this edition provides distinctive and diverse activations and adventures, to further enhance the festival’s status as a leading event at the local and global levels and boost its success.

The 2023 edition of Sheikh Zayed Festival will see wide participation from the government authorities and entities from the UAE and a number of other countries.

The event is also set to offer numerous surprises across its activities, to be announced on the festival’s official website and other channels.

Among the activities this year are national celebrations, with Union Parade, which reflects the UAE people’s sense of belonging and loyalty to the leadership, and the unity that brings the nation closer together.

The National Day Celebrations will span across the entire festival site, featuring official and popular festivities marking the UAE National Day. These include special shows and performances at the Heritage Village and international pavilions, including folk art shows, military musical performances, spectacular firework and drone displays, and the Emirates Fountain activities.

The festival includes an integrated Heritage Village to highlight aspects of popular heritage, represented by traditional industries and crafts, as well as to emphasise its keenness to provide a family-friendly, entertaining, and educational environment through its recreational, social and cultural activities.

Other highlights include an agricultural excellence award; a rare species reserve; Al Wathba Custom Show; the Children’s City; the Fun Fair City; the Glow Flower Garden; the House of Fear; an art district; various competitions and draws, as well as many other surprises and activations.