DUBAI, UAE: After two months of testing, the Dubai Fountain was publicly turned on last May 7, 2009 by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The opening was in conjunction with the official opening of the Dubai Mall which hosts around 1200 retail outlets spread over a total area of 12 million hectare.
The visual experience of the Dubai Fountain is simply outstanding with over 6,600 WET superlights and 25 colour projectors creates a visual spectrum of over 1,000 abstract attractions. Set on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake, the fountain oscillates water jets as high as 500 ft (150 metres) equivalent to that of a 50-storey building. The fountain is 900 ft (275 metres) long and has five circles of varying sizes and two central arcs. It`s size is 25% larger than the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas and visible from over 20 miles away up or horizontally if you have a clear line of sight. Adding to it`s allure,the fountain will sway to the melody of Sama Dubai, the tribute of Emaar Properties to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; Dhoom Thana, a super-hit Hindi film song from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Om Shanti Om; Baba Yetu, an award-winning song in Swahili; the Arab world’s top-selling dance number Shik Shak Shok; and the signature piece of world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Con te Partiro .
The Dubai Fountain is clearly situated as another tourist magnetism for Dubai with a distinction of being one of the world’s largest performing fountains with all controls being executed under-water. But it is not the world’s tallest in terms of single jet fountains, the record belongs to King Fahd’s Fountain in Jeddah at 1,023 ft.The fountain has been designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas. Mark Fuller, WET’s founder and Chief Excellence Officer said that the Dubai Fountain does not only defy gravity but also utilized the latest technology in lighting, robotics, and our signature water shooters.
Emaar, the developer of the Burj Dubai and the Downtown Burj Dubai area, announced that total development value of the Burj Dubai Lake, the Dubai fountain and its advanced filtrations systems is a whopping AED 800 million (USD 218.50 million). The Dubai Fountain is now performing daily from 6pm to 11pm with 30 minutes interval til 8pm and 20 minutes onwards. The best places for viewing are at the bridge between Souk Al Bahar and theDubai Mall; at several restaurants in Souk Al Bahar; at the Kinokuniya bookshop on the top floor of the Dubai Mall; at Joe’s Cafe on Level 1 of the Dubai Mall; at cafes and restaurants along the Dubai Mall promenade and at the Burj Dubai itself of course, unless you bought a north-facing apartment.
source:danialexa.com
