Mabrook to the leaders, citizens and residents of the UAE as you celebrate 49 years of united cooperation, tolerance and hope.
While many residents are choosing to mark the occasion in various safely organised activities and events around the country, a fair number of options are also available this year for those who would like to celebrate from home, given the pandemic climate.
In fact, residents will this year have access to some of the most exciting events and shows even when they are staying in.
Watch Seeds of the Union
The awaited Seeds of the Union show staged in Abu Dhabi will be broadcast live on a number of television channels on Wednesday, December 2 at 6.15pm. The 40-minute show will highlight the UAE’s journey, as well as its values, sense of unity and resilience, and will feature a moving sculpture surrounded by sea. Its developers, including a team of Emirati artistes and award-winning show developer, Es Devlin, earlier announced that the mangroves will play a key role in the show.
Seeds of the Union will be broadcast in Arabic on Abu Dhabi TV and Dubai TV, in English on Dubai One and in Malayalam on Matrubhumi. Alternatively, it can be viewed freely online via the National Day YouTube channel on Facebook and Instagram.
Sing the national anthem
Residents can submit a recording of them singing the UAE’s national anthem, ‘Eishy Bilady’ on the uaenationalday.ae website before the end of November 30. They can also submit their recordings via @OfficialUAEND social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. A selection of the recordings will be broadcast during the Seeds of the Union show.
Ride for Zayed
Cyclists from all around the world can register for the third edition of Ride for Zayed, which will be held from December 1-6 by the New York University Abu Dhabi. Riders can participate using regular bikes or stationary ones, with a single ride of any distance for beginners, a 49-kilometre ride — either singly or cumulatively — for those with more experience, or a 102-kilometre ride either at one or go or cumulatively for those seeking a bigger challenge. A 49-kilometre ride coincides with the UAE’s 49th National Day, while a 102-kilometre ride commemorates 102 years since the birth of the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Enjoy some local TV
Image Nation Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s own film and entertainment producer, will release a number of locally-created documentaries and short films that celebrate the UAE’s heritage and communities on Etisalat e-life and National Geographic Abu Dhabi, while Emirati body-swap comedy film Rashid & Rajab is now available globally on Netflix for the first time.
Etisalat e-life’s dedicated National Day on-demand channel will be showing a range of Image Nation productions, including inspirational documentaries History of the Emirates, Botoula, Lest We Forget and Back to the Wild, as well as a diverse series of short films created by participants in Image Nation’s flagship professional development program Arab Film Studio.
National Geographic will also show History of the Emirates and Back to the Wild on December 2 as part of its National Day special programming.
Rashid & Rajab, the first live-action feature film from Emirati director Mohammad Saeed Harib, also recently launched worldwide on Netflix. The comedy caper follows wealthy Emirati executive Rashid (Marwan Abdullah Saleh) and carefree Egyptian fast-food deliveryman Rajab (Shadi Alfons), who switch bodies — and lives — after a freak accident. The two men search for a way to return to their former selves in a humorous story that includes slapstick antics as well as a touching emotional journey.
Rashid & Rajab is Image Nation’s fourth locally-produced project available on Netflix, alongside Emirati legal drama series Justice, psychological thriller Zinzana and dystopian film The Worthy.
Samihah Zaman, Staff Reporter, Gulf News
