Dubai has ushered in 2014 with more than half a million fireworks spectacle, breaking the world record for the largest such display ever, Guinness World records said on Wednesday.
Ten months in planning, over 500,000 fireworks were used during the display on the New Year’s Eve which lasted around six minutes, with Guinness adjudicators on hand to confirm that a new record had been set.
Covering a distance of over 90 km of the city’s seafront, the display incorporated some of Dubai’s top landmarks, including Palm Jumeirah, World Islands, the Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, Guinness said.
The spectacle’s final salvo of fireworks created an artificial “sunrise” along the seafront, with the highest fireworks reaching more than one kilometre in height.
Organisers had been aiming to beat a record set in 2012 during a display to mark Kuwait’s golden jubilee anniversary which saw a total of 77,282 fireworks launched.
Dubai’s attempt broke that benchmark by some margin, with enough fireworks launched within the first minute of the display alone to surpass the previous record.
What now goes down as the biggest bang in the history of pyrotechnics was designed by U.S. firm Fireworks by Grucci, said Guinness.
The performance used 100 computers to synchronise the pyrotechnics, along with a choreographed musical soundtrack.
In the build up to the event, more than 200 expert technicians worked 5,000 man hours to ensure that the fireworks’ timing was accurate down to the millisecond.
“The scale of this record attempt is truly impressive and will ensure all eyes are on Dubai,” Alistair Richards, Global president of Guinness World Records, said.
Mr. Richards had travelled especially to Dubai from London to witness the display.
