The three-hour-long drive to Liwa from Abu Dhabi airport feels unhurried. As the skyline slips away, the road opens into long stretches of sand. The second edition of Liwa Festival, the annual festival that blends motorsports, heritage and entertainment in a desert setting, is about to kick off.. Here are five highlights of Liwa where the annual festival will be in full flow till January 3.
Festive fervour
Launched on December 12, 2025, the festival organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, unfolds as a winter fixture shaped by movement, sound and shared attention. Set against the golden dunes of the Al Dhafra region and running until January 3, 2026, it brings together adventure activities, speed challenges, live music and cultural experiences.
Over the years, the festival has grown steadily into a seasonal draw, attracting families, camping enthusiasts, motorsport followers and those curious about traditional desert sports. Much of this energy centres around Tal Moreeb, the UAE’s tallest sand dune rising nearly 300 metres, where heritage and competition meet on equal ground. The opening night reflects this scale, beginning with an aerial display by the UAE Falcons Aerobatic Team, followed by fireworks, drone sequences and expansive light performances that illuminates the Liwa skies.
Sights and sounds
Liwa festival in Abu Dhabi.
| Photo Credit:
NIVEDITA GANGULY
Liwa International Festival 2026 opens with a sound and light show. As darkness settles over the desert, a light and sound spectacle plays out across the sand dunes, using their natural contours as a stage. It turns the landscape itself into a participant rather than a backdrop. The opening ceremony is punctuated by fireworks.
Behind the opening ceremony is the Liwa Village, a carnival adjacent to it, where children move between creative workshops, a petting zoo and gentle rides. I observe some artisans at work, handling materials with familiarity rather than performance, offering a grounded sense of continuity.
At the adventure and motor sport zone inside Liwa Village, the mood shifts. Engines roared in the adventure zone as drifting and dune bashing gather crowds. Live performances are held across the open grounds and tethered hot air balloons illuminate the space.
From the watchtower
Tower of Moughab in Abu Dhabi
| Photo Credit:
NIVEDITA GANGULY
The next day, a half an hour’s drive from the festival site takes me to the Tower of Moughab. The tower once guarded the western approaches to the settlements and palm groves of the Liwa crescent, which were inhabited throughout the year. Oral histories from the 1950s speak of its construction by Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa, though it was already in ruins by then.
Built from rough stone rubble quarried nearby, the tower reflects function over form. Rebuilt in 2004, it remains restrained in appearance. I visit in the afternoon, when under the bright light the tower stands silently as a reminder of a not-so-distant past. The silence around the tower feels deliberate, as if the landscape itself is preserving memory.
Al Meel or Nimail Fort
Al Meer fort in Abu Dhabi.
| Photo Credit:
NIVEDITA GANGULY
My next stop is a to Al Meel Fort, also known as Nimail Fort. The fort marks the site of an earlier structure built to guard settlements like Shah and its palm groves, among the most significant settlements in the eastern Liwa crescent. Oral histories suggest that the original fort was built by the Bani Yas tribes in the early 19th Century. Rebuilt in the 1980s, the fort today offers no spectacle. Its walls simply stand, holding space. Walking through its enclosure, I became aware of how closely survival here was tied to water, shade and collective effort.
Dune and dusted
Al Dhafra desert in Abu Dhabi.
| Photo Credit:
NIVEDITA GANGULY
An hour from Liwa, Al Dhafra reveals another pace altogether. Home to nearly 50,000 residents, it is among the more populated parts of the region. I try dune bashing first, the sand rising and falling with force and precision. Later, a camel ride offers contrast, each step measured and steady.
I spend time shaping simple sand art in a glass bottle, an exercise that feels temporary by design. What stayed with me is the sense that Al Dhafra allows movement and pause to coexist, without insisting on either.
The writer was in Abu Dhabi on invitation from its Department of Culture and Tourism.
Published – January 02, 2026 01:33 pm IST
