New Year's eve gala around Burj Khalifa breaks Guinness Record

DUBAI: A dazzling show of New Year's eve gala using 70,000 LED bulbs around the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa here has broken the Guinness World Record of the 'Largest LED-Illuminated Facade'.

The never-before-seen show of fireworks, Light Emitting Diode lights and laser beam displays became one of the world's most-watched New Year's Eve spectacle with residents and visitors from around the world thronging around the 829.8 metres tall skyscraper to watch the display.

The illumination around Burj Khalifa spanned 32,467 square metres and it surpassed the existing record held by Mall Taman Anggrek in Indonesia. The LED screen area around the skyscraper was nearly 3.75 times larger.

The record-breaking LED display had 70,000 LED bulbs placed in position using over 100,000 brackets and linked using 55,000 metres of cabling for the perfect visual display.

The event was also live streamed with four different camera angles including aerial views from three drones. Live telecast through major international channels reached billions of people worldwide.

"The celebration brings hope and joy for a better tomorrow and a promising new era of growth in Dubai, a global city that provides opportunity and environment for business and personal growth," Ahmad Al Matrooshi, MD of Emaar Properties, said.

The fireworks, laser show and multimedia display used the world's most advanced pyrotechnics and LED illumination technologies.

Professionals from around the world worked on the project with over 192,000 man-hours devoted to the gala. Around 200 skilled professionals were tasked with the project and over 4.7 tonnes of fireworks were used for the fireworks display with 25,000 shots lighting up the sky.

The perfectly synchronised fireworks used over 25,000 metres of cabling, some rising up to tip of Burj Khalifa's spire for the crowning effect.