The Dubai Fountain

The Dubai Fountain is a dancing fountain system built on the waters of Burj Khalifa Lake in the heart of Downtown Dubai. It is the largest project of its kind in the world and is the work of WET Design, a Californian company responsible for other similar large-scale works including the famous fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The Dubai Fountain is illuminated by no less than 6,600 lights and 25 coloured projectors, is 275 metres long and shoots jets of water that reach a maximum height of no less than 150 metres, accompanied by music ranging from classical to modern, passing through the popular melodies of Arab culture.

The construction of the Dubai Fountain cost an estimated €200 million and was officially inaugurated on 8 May 2009 with an official ceremony held inside the adjacent Dubai Mall.

The fountain can shoot more than 80,000 litres of water into the air at any time, and at the end of 2010 the entire system was enriched with a new element, fire, which was shown for the first time during the 2011 New Year’s Eve celebrations to the general amazement of those present.

The shows

The fountain moves to the rhythm of music, with different combinations, colours or patterns: sometimes the movement seems dancing and sinuous, other times rhythmic and brutal. Every time the water reaches maximum pressure, it is splashed 150 metres into the air and a loud, dry noise is heard, while the ray of light radiated during the Dubai Fountain shows can be seen as far as 30 kilometres away.

The fountain, together with the lights and music, forms a truly exciting spectacle that engages all the senses. It can be seen from every point on the pedestrian walkway around Burj Khalifa Lake and also from many surrounding structures and hotel rooms overlooking it.

The show lasts only a few minutes and is staged every day at 1pm and 1.30pm, then resumes every 30 minutes from 6pm to 10pm on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from 6pm to 11pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

All shows at the Dubai Fountain are of course free of charge and are accompanied by light effects and music that is diffused through a huge loudspeaker system around the lake.

The first show of the day is usually Sama Dubai, a tribute to Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, while subsequent performances include songs such as Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Con te partirò’, ‘Let it go’, the song from the Disney film Frozen sung by Demi Lovato, as well as the UAE national anthem, some classical music and some traditional Arabic songs.

Boat ride during the shows

An original way to admire the Dancing Fountains shows is directly from the water: take a short tour of Burj Khalifa Lake aboard an abra, Dubai’s traditional boat.