Abu Dhabi Beach Concerts

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YASALAM : A festival of beach concerts, outdoor cinema & Grand Prix Concerts....Abu Dhabi comes alive!!

Abu Dhabi came to life in October with a month long festival of free beach concerts & entertainment in the lead up to the first Formula 1 Grand Prix at Yas Island. Slowly we emerged from our extreme heat & humidty hibernation of a Middle East summer and Ramadan. The previous months had seen many flee the extreme heat to cooler shores, and with Ramadan, the town was very quiet...not a lot to do except stay indoors by the air con or in the pool!

So it was great to be able to once again walk down to the beach and see free beach concerts each night! Outdoor cinema was set up on the beach with comfy lounge chairs under the chill out dome and provided bean bags were dotted all over the beach & lawns.

Following that was "The Beats on The Beach" concerts. Each night there were about 3-4 bands/performers... all brilliant! Some local Arabic bands, great percussion, Lebanese pop stars, international bands & performers., including : Myriam Fares,Lebanon; Freshlyground, South African fusion; Music Hall, caberet style music& theatre; Beats Antenna, Dubai; Soul II Soul, UK; Timbaland DJ; Mohamed Hamaki, Egypt; and best of all The Wailers, Jamaican Reggae.....they were absolutely brilliant, we sang & danced to three encores!

It was an amazing sight to see so many people from different countries alongside the local Emirates' all grooving & relaxing on the beach. Families, young and old, expats & locals all mixed it up & danced & let loose on the beaches to some wild music & beats! With balmy 30 degree evenings, a beach setting with traditional dow boats along the waterfront, lighting effects over the sands, a well set up venue of chillout areas & food stalls, it was an amaxing week of concerts everynight!!

This all culminated in the Grand Prix...with 4 nights of international bands.....more to come!

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Photos

Music Hall
International/world music

Myriam Fares
Lebanon, Beach concert