Dubai Welcomes 2026
As the world welcomed 2026, Dubai, UAE, once again staged one of the biggest, most epic jaw-dropping mixed visual media extravaganzas, as lighting, video, lasers and fireworks fired off the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa tower in an event organised by EMAAR and produced by Our Legacy Creations.
Robe was also part of it, with 86 x iFORTE LTX on the lighting rig for a spectacle staged on the Burj lake that led into the fireworks, lit by Dom Smith and Paul Johnson from UK-based design studio, NeonBlack.
The Burj Khalifa NYE event this year started with this dramatic, full-tilt, all-action 20-minute show staged across a 450-metre open performance space on a large section of the Burj lake in front of the 828-metre-high building that dominates the downtown Dubai skyline.
Twenty-five custom floats, boats, waterboards and jet-skis were involved – with a cast of 570, including a tightrope walker traversing a high-tension cable strung between points of the adjacent shopping mall – in a slickly choreographed performance.
Dom and Paul met the numerous challenges involved in lighting this epically proportioned show, creatively directed by Tiziana Pagliarulo (OLC), choosing Robe iFORTE LTX moving lights to provide all key lighting for a thrilling entertainment programme. The spectacle then led into the famous ‘traditional’ 60-second NYE countdown that cued the firework grand finale on the Burj.
This new pre-fireworks segment added an extra visual layer and great value to the annual pyro-tastic event at the Burj Khalifa, watched in awe by tens of thousands live, and streamed to billions more.
The main issue for Dom and Paul’s lighting design was getting enough powerful and good quality key lighting rigged in the right places to register properly and illuminate the cast across this vast area, so the 36 broadcast cameras, directed by Marcus Viner, could get the best shots.
Additionally, for the tightrope artist, 24 iFORTE LTXs were placed on the roof of the Dubai Mall to light the line. The only available positioning for tracking follow spots was on top of the souk market, around 150 metres away from the location of the wire.
“We were somewhat concerned about how much light we could get into this area,” commented Paul, “and were pleasantly surprised when we opened out the iFORTE LTXs from that huge distance away … and they proved absolutely perfect for the job – both creatively and practically!”
Dom commented, “Robe’s iFORTE LTX was the only option to light the 150 – 200-metre longest throw distances involved; the only luminaire that could give us the consistency and quality of lighting to make it look great on camera and for everyone watching live.”
He added that, for the last two years, the iFORTE LTX has become a go-to key lighting tool for their work.
The 86 x iFORTE LTXs were supplied by the event’s technical equipment rental contractor Media Pro, who are based in Dubai, and were among approximately 3000 other fixtures in total used for the show – including the Burj Khalifa’s permanently installed lights.
Most of these iFORTE LTXs were positioned all around the lake, mainly on the permanent PA speaker towers, with some on custom truss towers fabricated by Media Pro.
The tightrope line itself was illuminated by the 24 x iFORTE LTXs on top of the souk and another two fixtures were positioned on the roof of the souk bazaar, used exclusively for tracking the artist as she deftly shimmied across the 450-metre span, which was 60 metres high. These were controlled by a Robe RoboSpot control system positioned by the lights on the rooftop to help with accurate targeting.
Most of the 60 iFORTE LTXs around the lake were also on a remote follow system using multiple fixed cameras to cover the enormous field of view that was the stage.
“The iFORTES were absolutely solid,” noted Dom … “Not only do they retain their intensity and flat beam field across these very long distances, once you dial in the desired colour temperature, this replicates that perfectly and consistently – very impressive!”
All the show’s key and white lighting was programmed and directed by David Wolstenholme. The effects lighting was programmed by Eliot Jessep and Josh Musgrave in the UK and during pre-viz, and Alex Douglas in Dubai.
In addition to the various water-based performance floats, the event also included a series of large Rio-carnival style parade floats that drove down Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard at the start of the entertainment, which also had to be lit, together with the front of the Burj Khalifa facing onto the lake. The fireworks ‘conductor’ was lifted up to 15 metres on a hydraulic platform and was also tracked by iFORTE LTXs.
Dom, Paul, and their crew worked alongside a big team to ensure that Dubai started the year with great energy, style and enthusiasm … and a world-class show even before a single pyro was fired off the Burj Khalifa … in another jaw-dropping display of visual magic to welcome 2026!
PHOTOS: Whatever Live
NeonBlack website - www.neonblack.design
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