MARJAN
1.1.2019 14:55:10 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Ras Al Khaimah captivated the world with its 2019 New Year’s Eve Fireworks that welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to the emirate. Organised by Marjan, with the support of Ras Al Khaimah’s government entities, and put together by Fireworks by Grucci, the Ras Al Khaimah New Year’s Fireworks, spanning a duration of over 13.20 minutes, also clinched two Guinness World Records for the ‘Longest chain of fireworks’ and the ‘Longest straight line of fireworks’.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190101005028/en/
This year, the celebration was made even more memorable for the visitors with Al Marjan Island, the venue of the event and the flagship lifestyle destination by Marjan, hosting several family-oriented activities. Positioning the event on the global map of New Year’s Eve celebrations, the Ras Al Khaimah event was telecast internationally, and its images and videos shared on social media by millions more.
Eng. Abdulla Al Abdouli, Managing Director & CEO of Marjan, said: “The spectacular event highlighted the reputation of Ras Al Khaimah as the must-visit destination for celebrating the New Year’s Eve. With visitors arriving from across the world, the event served to highlight the touristic appeal of Ras Al Khaimah and to position it as a fast-growing leisure and commercial hub in the region. We thank the leadership of Ras Al Khaimah for their guidance and support in accomplishing this event, and all the government entities in the Emirate for the exceptional team work. With two Guinness World Records set, the 2019 Ras Al Khaimah New Year’s Eve Gala has been truly historic and adds to the pride of our nation.”
The celebration flagged off with a fascinating pyrotechnic tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the nation. In a befitting conclusion to the ‘Year of Zayed’ marked in 2018 to coincide with his birth centenary, the night-sky of Ras Al Khaimah came to life with a brilliant image of Sheikh Zayed followed by a magnificent fireworks display.
“With our tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed, we highlighted that his legacy and name is important for us – daily, every hour and every second of the day. For us, Zayed is the beginning of everything we do; Zayed is the start of every new challenge; Zayed is our sense of pride. And we are starting the year, once again, remembering and paying respect to our great leader,” said Eng. Al Abdouli.
The ‘Longest chain of fireworks’
Clinching the Guinness World Records for the ‘Longest chain of fireworks’, the first pyrotechnic display, the tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed, featured 11,284 firework devices. The earlier record was for deploying 10,005 firework devices set by Viejas Casino & Resort (USA) in Alpine, California, USA, on September 12, 2014. Fireworks were deployed from 52 sites along Al Marjan Island and the waterways of Ras Al Khaimah’s coastline, with the total length of the chain exceeding 4.6 kilometres. The show was designed to 12 international music compositions, and the record was set in just 40 seconds.
The ‘Longest straight line of fireworks’
This was followed drone countdown to the New Year. A canopy of golden showers followed, and Ras Al Khaimah won the Guinness World Records for the ‘Longest straight line of fireworks’. The stunning display spanned an area of 13 kilometres, trumping the earlier record set over a distance of 11.38 kilometres.
The display had the largest calibre of aerial shell at a diameter of 600 mm, the largest used in the UAE for any fireworks display during this New Year’s Eve. The record was set in 12.06 minutes, with fireworks positioned at 13 sites across Al Marjan Island and the waterways along the RAK shoreline. There were seven themed chapters for the show, which was set to international music compositions. The inspiration for the fireworks display was the natural beauty of Ras Al Khaimah, and it was choreographed to highlight the beautiful beaches and resorts along the Emirate’s shoreline.
SkyMagic Drone Show
A 200-piece SkyMagic drone show was precisely integrated into the fireworks design. Scenes such as the tribute to Sheikh Zayed were displayed within a 100m space in the sky accented by colourful bursts of fireworks. A sweeping display of a falcon spreading its wings emphasised the heritage of the Emirate.
Designed by Phil Grucci, CEO & Creative Director of Fireworks by Grucci, the event was verified by an official adjudicator from Guinness World Records for the ‘Longest chain of fireworks’ and the ‘Longest straight line of fireworks.’ Following the fireworks gala, Eng. Al Abdooli and Phil Grucci, received the Guinness World Records titles from the adjudicator.
Marjan worked closely with Ras Al Khaimah’s government entities including Ras Al Khaimah Public Works to create several public viewing areas across Al Marjan Island. More than 27,000 additional public car parking spaces were provided to welcome the guests.
Preparations for the 2019 Ras Al Khaimah New Year’s Eve Fireworks started in early 2018 immediately after the successful Guinness World Record achievement for the ‘Largest Aerial Shell’ displayed from Al Marjan Island at last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration.
Over 300 hours were spent to design the show. The design resulted in the programming of over 41,000 lines of computer instructions to control 20 computers to display the sweeping performance. The firework components for the aerial shells, ranging in size from 14 to 600 mm, were hand-crafted exclusively by Grucci in their factories in New York and Virginia over a two-month period.
This time, Marjan had added new viewing areas for more people to enjoy the show. Several family activities were hosted at the venue including food trucks, ice cream salons, lemonade corners, colourful band performances, and face painting and inflatable games for children. Stilt walkers, mime artists, and clowns welcomed the guests.
For more information, please visit: www.RAKNYE.com
*Source: AETOSWire
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190101005028/en/
Contact:
ASDA’A BCW Iman Ahmed | Anthony Fernandes | Ahmed Abdulrazek Tel: +97144507600 iman.ahmed@bcw-global.com anthony.fernandes@bcw-global.com ahmed.abdulrazek@bcw-global.com
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Dubai Chambers Organises Open Dialogue in London to Showcase Dubai’s Competitive Advantages as a Global Business Hub16.6.2026 11:25:00 CEST | Press release
Dubai Chambers organised an open dialogue in London in cooperation with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) aimed at showcasing Dubai’s competitive advantages as a global business hub to a group of leading British investors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260616827193/en/ H.E. Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah addresses the audience during the event (Photo: AETOSWire) The event was attended by His Excellency Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, together with UK business leaders. Discussions highlighted the key investment opportunities Dubai offers across diverse sectors, as well as the city’s advantages as a hub for the expansion of British companies in the region and globally. The session also outlined the comprehensive support provided by Dubai Chambers to UK investors to ensure the smooth establishment and growth of their businesses in Dubai. The discussions explored how
NIQ and Unlimitail Collaborate to Deliver the Next Generation of Omnichannel Retail Media Insights & Measurement Across Retailers and Countries16.6.2026 11:00:00 CEST | Press release
Enabling advertisers to prove ROI across retailers, markets, and channels with interoperable, AI-powered measurement Retail media investment is accelerating globally, with 67% of CMOs planning to increase spending on retail media networks (RMNs) in 2026. Yet only 53% believe today's RMNs provide adequate measurement and attribution capabilities, highlighting a critical gap in proving true business impact across retailers and markets.* Today, NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a leading consumer intelligence company, and Unlimitail, a leading retail media network, announced a strategic collaboration designed to help brands and retailers unlock a new era of retail media accountability through advanced measurement, consumer insights, interoperable data infrastructure, and AI-powered analytics. This collaboration will combine Unlimitail's extensive retail media network, which spans 21 countries, 35 retailers, more than 120 retailer websites, and over 250 million loyalty cardholders, with NIQ's industry-lead
Thredd Expands Partnership with ID DISTRIBUTION to Power Next Phase of Employee Benefits and Expense Innovation16.6.2026 11:00:00 CEST | Press release
Paris-based fintech will extend its card program into corporate expense management and support continued European expansion Thredd, the AI-first issuer processing platform, today announced an expanded partnership with ID DISTRIBUTIONthrough its flagship program Vaziva, a leading employee benefits and payments platform, to support its growth beyond consumer payments, into corporate payments, as well as their international expansion. Thredd has worked with ID DISTRIBUTIONsince 2020, supporting the company’s consumer offering in France with physical and digital card issuing and payments processing capabilities. Its Vaziva card program enables companies to digitally manage and distribute multiple types of employee benefits through a single prepaid Mastercard-branded card experience. The program supports convenient, secure card usage for employees to access and use benefits across categories including lunch, gifts, culture, holidays, and travel. With more employers seeking simpler, more dig
Eastnets Launches FinCrime Intelligence Platform to Unify Financial Crime Investigations16.6.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
Eastnets, a global provider of compliance and payment solutions, today announced the launch of FinCrime Intelligence Platform (FCIP), a new investigation and orchestration layer that helps financial institutions unify financial crime operations, improve investigator productivity and gain a single view of risk across AML, sanctions, KYC and fraud. As financial crime operations grow in complexity, many institutions struggle with fragmented investigation tools and inconsistent workflows. FCIP addresses this challenge by providing a single, governed workspace for managing cases across compliance domains - without replacing existing detection systems. Eastnets’ FinCrime Intelligence Platform delivers centralised case management across AML, sanctions screening and KYC, structured, multi‑level investigative workflows with assistive, explainable AI to support, and not replace, human decision-making, providing full audit trails and management oversight. By consolidating AML, fraud, KYC, and scr
Respond.io Raises $62.5M Series B to Scale AI-Powered Customer Conversations Into North America and Europe16.6.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
62.5M Series B led by Camber Partners, with existing investors participating. Respond.io is profitable with $35M ARR, 169% year-over-year growth, and a 30% profit margin. New capital will fund expansion into and mergers and acquisitions within North America and Europe. Respond.io, a customer conversation management platform, today announced a $62.5 million Series B round led by Camber Partners, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and existing investors. What respond.io does Respond.io enables mid-market B2C businesses to grow revenue from high volumes of customer chats and calls. It unifies WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, LINE, Telegram, WeChat, voice calls, email, web chat and 16 more integrations into a single platform with AI agents, automation, and CRMs. This turns fragmented customer conversations into a measurable revenue engine, purpose-built for real-world scale and complexity. The company serves industries where customers initiate conversations before buying, boo
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom
