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Masdar City to Host Annual Sustainability Festival

Family day out will offer wide range of free and fun themed activities

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Masdar City will host the second annual Festival at Masdar City from 11am to 9pm on January 23-24, marking the close of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW). The event will be an opportunity to enjoy a fun and family focused day out, in one of the world’s most sustainable cities. 

The Festival will bring sustainability to life, across a range of themed areas, offering free and fun activities for both children and families. The themed areas include the land of Arabia, eco-souk, secret garden, farmer’s market and foods zone and a chill out area.

University teams that competed in the Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge, from across the globe and the United Arab Emirate’s own, Petroleum Institute, will also be part of the Festival. With support from leading UAE motor sports celebrities – Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Khaled Al Qubaisi – they will be showcasing the cutting edge solar cars that took them 1,200km across the emirate of Abu Dubai. 

“The Festival at Masdar City is a great opportunity for families to spend a fun and informative day together,” said Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, Masdar’s director of Sustainability. “The Festival is a platform for us to connect with the community, to share our story and our values.

“The event is full of fun, free activities that underscore the importance of making smart, sustainable decisions,” said Dr. Al Hosany. 

A main-stage will showcase music and entertainment for all ages. Children will also be able to take part in educational activities including flower planting, windmill building, arts and eco-crafts sessions and engaging science and sustainability workshops. A highlight will be the Little Inventors competition that engages children in scientific activity, and encourages them to invent ways to conserve energy or utilise alternative energy sources. 

Other family friendly events include an Earth awareness workshop that allows participants to understand the basics of water pollution, acid rain and the greenhouse effect; a garbage workshop, offering an introduction to improving the state of the environment through waste reduction and the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle; and the ecosystems exploration workshops that allows children to learn about the interconnections that exist between all the living things in ecosystems, including human beings. 

Continuing the sustainability theme, visitors are encouraged to bring olds books to exchange at a Festival book swap. Helpful tips from experts will also be offered over the weekend, on how to reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency in the home. 

The list of activities and attractions:

Workshops

  • Little inventors’ competition
  • Earth awareness
  • Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
  • Ecosystems exploration

Educational activities

  • Windmill making for children
  • Flower planting
  • Eco arts and craft sessions
  • Recycling center

Food and beverage

  • Organic market
  • Food and live entertainment

Entertainment

  • Table Games
  • Giant Jenga
  • Face painting
  • Guided Tours of Masdar City
  • Clown Games
  • Hedgemen
  • Carnival Parade
  • Human Candy Tables
  • Magician

The Festival at Masdar City take places at the end of ADSW – an international platform, January 17-24, that tackles the complex, interconnected challenges of water and energy security, climate risk and sustainable development. 

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