The stunning Sharjah Light Festival returns this February
Ever scrolled through the 'Gram and seen those beautiful photos of Sharjah illuminated by colourful lights? No, it isn't the works of AI, the photos are very much real and are a part of the Sharjah Light Festival which takes place annually during the winter season.
Now in its 14th year, the Sharjah Light Festival will start shining its lights on Wednesday, February 5 until February 23, 2025.
During the festival, facades of iconic cultural and tourist sites and landmarks in Sharjah will be illuminated in a snap-worthy, mesmerising art display created by renowned artists. Expect to see a celebration of creativity and heritage in the form of lights, colours and music at beloved landmarks.
Take a look at the video above for a sneak peak of what to expect.
This year, the dazzling festival takes place under the theme 'Unity of Light'.
Now these landmarks are already quite stunning in their own way, but they will be further enhanced at the festival using an interplay of lights, music and a dynamic narrative articulating the emirate's past, present and future aspirations.
At the moment, we don't have a list of landmarks where the Sharjah Light Festival will take place, but we will keep you up to date when we find out.
Last year, the sites included General Souq – Al Hamriyah, University City Hall, Al Noor Mosque, Sharjah Mosque, Al Majaz Waterfront, Sharjah Fort, Kalba Clock Tower and more.
Excited to visit to snap up your own photo at the festival? Here are some tips…
We spoke to two popular photographers here in the UAE, @alphaspotting (Mo Azizi) and @tgfromdubai (Ihsan Salhia).
Ihsan Salhia highlights that it's important to not go in and immediately start clicking photos. He said, 'Keep in mind that the lights are moving and have patterns. It's important to take your time, study the patterns and see how long it takes for them to move before you click the snap button.'
He added if one can afford it, get a fast lens where the iris can open wide to allow more light in – an F2.8 or better.
Another piece of equipment both photographers agreed on is a tripod adding it will help get a sharp image.
Mo Azizi also suggested a 1-second exposure or less and told us that bumping up the ISO is fine if needed. He also suggested a timer as it will help reduce any shaking, especially when taking a long exposure shot.
Most importantly, both photographers stressed the need to enjoy the show and have fun. As Mo Azizi, put it, 'The Sharjah Light Festival is absolutely stunning. Don't just stand there taking photos, as you will forget to admire the show for its beauty.'
For more information, visit sharjahlightfestival.ae
Featured image: left @alphaspotting, right @tgfromdubai
Article images: Supplied
> Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
a day ago
- Zawya
South Africa: Hyperlocal is lekker, the AI-powered search revolution
Local is lekker, not only in SA but around the world – especially when you are talking search platforms. The fact is, search has evolved beyond traditional search engines like Google - only 64% of Gen Z search for products and services on traditional search engines first (Forbes survey 2024). More and more users now use diverse platforms like TikTok, Amazon and Instagram to find out about the latest products, coolest travel destinations or what not to buy. Driven by the rise of AI and other technologies, search fragmentation means consumers use a variety of platforms and ways to find what they are looking for. And more and more are choosing platforms that are able to customise and localise answers to the individual's needs, making local SEO a crucial outreach tool. With AI-driven search on the rise, brands need to adapt fast. Bryony Rose, one of the Nedbank IMC's much anticipated international keynote speakers, will fly in from London on the 18th September to talk search fragmentation and what it means for the industry. Bryony is the director for Enterprise International Business at Yext, the leading digital presence platform for multi-location brands with thousands of customers worldwide. 'AI-driven search experiences don't care if you're the biggest brand name with the biggest ad spend, AI-driven search prioritises the best answers for that individual,' explains Bryony. 'And while marketers have adopted AI to improve workflows and communication outputs, many aren't meeting the rapidly increasing demands of AI-driven search.' Marketers need to know where their audience is searching and adapt strategies accordingly. With AI-driven platforms processing data differently than traditional search engines, search has evolved from simple keyword searches to more conversational and context-driven queries. To stay relevant, marketers need to factor in these unique algorithms and user behaviours. In short, driving real business value means being able to provide the customised answers that users are searching for - is your business prepared for this new search landscape? Book your ticket and listen to Bryony as she reflects on these questions and more. Attend in-person or online. Venue – Mosaiek Teatro. 1 Danielle Street, Fairland, 2030. First early bird sold out. In-person tickets priced at R3500 (excl. VAT). Limited seats available. No allocated seating. Virtual tickets priced at R950 (excl. VAT). Book now. For more information visit: The annual Nedbank IMC Conference is Africa's foremost integrated marketing conference. Launched in 2019 it has become Africa's biggest marketing conference. The Integrated Marketing Collective (IMC) believes that Marketing is Business® and that marketing deserves its place at the boardroom table. This conference has more CMOs, senior marketers and agency leaders attending than any other in Africa and is relevant to anyone in the business of communication. One day of 15-minute presentations (with some exceptions), the conference is known for its hard-hitting global agenda with no sales pitches. The Nedbank IMC is presented in association with MASA, in collaboration with the ACA and is endorsed by the IAB. The 2025 theme is 'Marketing is Business®'.
Gulf Business
2 days ago
- Gulf Business
Amr Diab, ONE Development launch AI-powered DO Hotels & Residences
Image: Supplied ONE Development, the UAE's leading AI-driven lifestyle developer, and global music icon Amr Diab have launched DO Hotels & Residences Dubai, the region's first AI-powered, music-themed boutique hotel under the ONE/AD brand. The project marks a flagship destination for a new hospitality concept that blends immersive soundscapes, cutting-edge technology, and bold design. ' 'Partnering with Amr Diab to create an experience where guests can truly 'Live the Beat' reflects our commitment to shaping the next generation of lifestyle destinations, right here in the UAE,' he added. 'Every element of DO Hotels & Residences – Dubai Islands is thoughtfully crafted to appeal to adventurous travellers, connoisseurs of a soulful ambiance and those seeking a more permanent, immersive living experience, while enjoying the expansive panoramic sea, city and marina views,' he added. Do Hotels & Residences: Highlights The hotel and residences offer a range of experiences, from well appointed rooms to spacious, design-led living spaces. Facilities include two fully equipped recording studios and a suite of world-class amenities. 'Every space is designed to be an extension of our guests' aspirations: a place where music is not just heard, it permeates the very fabric of your life,' said Al Gebely. Rooted in Amr Diab's creative vision and his ethos of 'Live the Beat,' the brand delivers AI-powered personalisation across luxury hospitality, wellness, and design. Watch:
The National
2 days ago
- The National
From data to stone: How AI is rebuilding Armenia's lost architecture for the future
Rows of engraved rock structures line a factory floor in Yerevan, bound for the Armenia Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale. They look ancient, though they are still damp and fresh from the cutter. As the team prepares the shipment, a factory worker stops in front of one of the arches. 'That's from the church in my grandmother's village,' he says. 'The church by the forest. This was over the entrance.' He is certain. The arch is not from that church, but that moment of recognition, however misplaced, is proof the project had worked. It made memory, with all its flaws and reconstructions, tangible. The slippage between memory and material is at the core of Microarchitecture Through AI: Making New Memories with Ancient Monuments, the Armenian Pavilion's presentation at this year's biennale. The pavilion is being led by Armenia 's Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, in collaboration with the Tumo Centre for Creative Technologies and Electric Architects. It was developed with the support of CALFA, MoNumEd, and US artist Ari Melenciano. 'We wanted to see whether we can use technology to emulate the act of remembering,' says Marianna Karapetyan, the pavilion's curator and co-founder of Electric Architects. 'If there was an option of downloading the distorted image of a memory, and printing it, then maybe it will look something like this. Because you won't be able to remember it in detail.' The exhibition takes over a sprawling warehouse space with a series of small-scale structures: arches, columns, capitals (the top section of columns) and fragments. Each is carved from tuff, the volcanic rock central to Armenian heritage and used in its ancient monuments and modern architecture. At first glance, they could be mistaken for genuine artefacts. But a closer look reveals the uncanny: engravings are ill-defined, crosses twist out of form, the Armenian etchings are incomprehensible, and there are plenty of motifs and designs where they shouldn't be. The forms were generated using AI, trained on real data and 3D scans of historical Armenian sites. That data set is part of Tumo's continuing initiative to digitally preserve the country's cultural heritage. In recent years, the centre has undertaken the scanning and archiving of endangered architectural sites across Armenia – monasteries, churches, khachkars (carved stones bearing crosses) and vernacular structures – many of which are threatened by conflict or environmental degradation. That growing digital archive became the foundation for the pavilion's presentation this year. 'From the beginning, we knew we wanted to present a project based on the Tumo heritage scanning initiative,' Karapetyan says. 'The initiative began after the 2020 war, in the interim before Karvachar (Kalbajar), Kovsakan (Zangilan) and other areas were surrendered to Azerbaijan. The team went in and, within two weeks, documented everything they could using laser scanning and photogrammetry. The scans are extremely high resolution – accurate to the millimetre.' Several of the sites scanned by Tumo have since been destroyed or altered, Karapetyan notes, including Saint John the Baptist Church (Kanach Zham) and Ghazanchetsots Cathedral. 'Many of these sites only exist digitally,' she says. 'We knew the Tumo team had done an incredible job and wanted to present the implications of their work at the biennale in some way.' The Tumo team has scanned more than 260 monuments and the centre is developing an open-access platform to serve as a repository for Armenian heritage. The platform will feature immersive virtual tours and scholarly resources, aiming to make Armenia's centuries-long cultural legacy accessible to academics and the public alike. While Tumo's platform focuses on preservation, the pavilion took a different path. The 'artefacts' on display do not reproduce any specific monument. They are not reconstructions, but reimaginings – sculptures that speak to the erasure of history, the instability of memory and the possibility of new forms of preservation. The designs were machine-engraved, without human adjustment. 'We wanted to avoid human interference altogether. We didn't meddle with the designs, and there were no prototypes,' Karapetyan says. 'The sculptures are presented as the AI designed them and as the machine engraved them. We identified a handful of typologies of ancient Armenian architecture, their essence or DNA, so to speak, and let the AI come up with new designs.' The idea was to explore how scans of endangered heritage – whether threatened by conflict, neglect or climate change – could be used in a new way – 'to give new life to that information,' she says. The geopolitical stakes the exhibition alludes to are urgent and thought-provoking, but the pavilion does not pretend to offer solutions. Instead, it asks how cultural memory may persist when the physical world is no longer accessible. Can heritage survive as suggestion rather than structure? In a biennale dedicated to architecture, the Armenia Pavilion stands out not for what it builds, but how it remembers what was lost and how it reimagines the space left behind. The result isn't mournful or didactic but reflective. The proposal it offers is even uplifting: memory, like architecture, doesn't have to remain fixed to be real.
