The scenes at Expo 2020 Dubai’s awe-inspiring opening ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of Expo 2020 Dubai will be a magnificent curtain-raiser involving hundreds of performers in a 90- Behind minute spectacle that will transform people’s perceptions of Dubai and the UAE. 

Creative directors and performers discuss their enthusiasm at being a part of a revolutionary once-in-a-lifetime event in this behind-the-scenes look. 

Amna Abulhoul, Executive Creative Director, Events and Entertainment, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “The opening ceremony is a breathtaking experience. It is not something that I can explain through words. It will trigger something inside you, something that will make you feel that you are ready to change the world.”  

More than 1,000 performers and technical crew from the UAE and around the world will come together to make the magic happen, with dazzling costumes and projections reflecting the UAE’s diverse nature and landscapes. The entire ceremony will personify Expo’s theme and purpose of connecting minds and creating the future, with more than 1,000 performers and technical crew from the UAE and around the world coming together to make the magic happen. 

The groundbreaking Opening Ceremony will be televised to millions of people throughout the world on a variety of media, including Expo TV. 

Kate Randall, Vice President, Ceremonies and Programming, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “Expo is all about bringing the world together and that is definitely represented in our Opening Ceremony the cast, the crew all of the team that have worked on it also become like family, because we work so hard together for many months, for some of us many years, to bring the show to fruition.”  

Tareq Ghosheh, Chief Events and Entertainment Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “What you will see here is something huge, it’s a hybrid story of local talent working with some of the best creative and technical people in order to send a message to the world that tomorrow is better, that future generations are going to have a very optimistic and successful life, that we when we work together as human beings we can save this planet, and we can prosper as well. 

Using music, dance, drama and projection, the ceremony will give audiences around the world their first experience of Expo 2020’s beating heart, Al Wasl Plaza – demonstrating the cutting-edge technology that will bring Al Wasl dome, the world’s largest 360-degree projection screen, to life. 

Tareq Ghosheh added: “It is an experience that the world has never seen before in terms of the number of creative minds and capable technical people working together in order to produce this event in this format – whether for a live audience or for broadcast.”  

Mounir Cherkaoui, a performer and choreographer from Morocco, has been rehearsing for more than three months for the incredible event. Inspired to take up dance after watching Michael Jackson as a young boy, he described the show as a “piece of art”. 

“I meet a lot of people at Expo and that’s what makes me happy. I meet different nationalities, different knowledge, different mentalities. We are friends, and we are family; that’s what I like… I can’t tell you about the show, it’s a secret, but I can tell you that it’s a piece of art. I’m so happy to dance and to be a part of this project,” he said. 

Expo 2020 is a great source of pride for the UAE, as it is the first World Expo to be hosted in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) area and the largest event ever held in the Arab world. It also kicks off 182 days of celebrations in the year of the country’s Golden Jubilee. 

Kate Randall said: “We are incredibly proud of our Emirati performers participating in the Opening Ceremony. For a lot of them this is the first time they will have had the opportunity to do something like this on the world stage.”  

The Opening Ceremony will take spectators on a breathtaking journey through the Expo’s three subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability, showcasing the UAE’s deep-rooted values as well as the Expo’s vision and purpose, and welcoming the mega-192 event’s participating countries in spectacular fashion. The headliners will be confirmed soon.