The year that was…

2025 is less than two days away, and while the year past has flown by in a flash, that got us thinking: what were its biggest moments? Here are 10 memorable moments in Abu Dhabi from 2024.

 The capital welcomes the stunning Zayed International Airport

After a long wait, Abu Dhabi’s Terminal A/Midfield Terminal finally opened to the public, and was named Zayed International Airport in February, in honour of the founder of the Emirates. With stunning architecture and next-gen tech powering the building, the facility has fast become one of top airports in the world.

Crowning the finest F&B and leisure brands…at the What’s On Abu Dhabi awards 

At a glitzy awards night that celebrated the theme of 45 years of What’s On, we honoured the top names in the city in the F&B, leisure and hospitality space. It was the night Abu Dhabi’s industry waits for every year, and impressed thoroughly on the lawns of the W Abu Dhabi Yas Island.

John Legend mystifies at Saadiyat Nights

After weeks of welcoming great names to town every Saturday, the curtains fell on Saadiyat Nights as crooner John Legend wowed crowds with some of his greatest hits, in a concert Abu Dhabi and the UAE were in awe of under the stars.

The BAPS Hindu temple begins welcoming visitors

Following a grand inauguration on February 14, the Middle East’s first Hindu stone temple opened its doors to worshippers and visitors, with the marvellous piece of architecture showcasing four years of meticulous work and craftsmanship by artisans in India and the UAE. 

That rainy day in April…and how quickly we bounced back from it

They said rain was coming, and come it did. The country saw record-breaking rainfall in a 24-hour period, now confirmed as the biggest UAE inundation since records began in 1949. The rains began late on April 15, intensifying the next day and bringing traffic, work, and life as we know it to a (near) standstill. While the roads were splashed with rain water and the news with stories of how it all went down, Abu Dhabi was back on its feet in record time.

Abu Dhabi’s first Comedy Week brings the laughs to town

For the first time, Abu Dhabi Comedy Week promised to bring the guffaws to town, and fans forgot their worries and cracked up for a full week thanks to the talents of Dave Chappelle, Tom Segura, Andrew Schulz, Aziz Ansari, Chris Tucker and other leading laughmasters. They’ll return to town in 2025, for a much bigger edition. Read all about it here.

Surf Abu Dhabi is open for business

Abu Dhabi’s begun to floor to the pedal on its sky-high ambitions, and with a slew of mind-boggling megaprojects on the brink of inauguration, Surf Abu Dhabi finally opened to the public in the final quarter of the year. What’s On had the opportunity to be one of the first to try out the world’s largest and most-advanced wave facility, bringing Kelly Slater cool and Californian energy to the bustling capital. Here’s how you can give it a whirl.

Coldplay places the city on hold

…and that’s long before they’ve even come anywhere close to the UAE. The announcement that one of the biggest and most imapctful bands of all time would be performing in Abu Dhabi come January 2025 meant music-mad fans were in a mile-long virtual queue to get their mitts on tickets. It also meant a second, third and fourth show being added to their tour in Abu Dhabi. Hype, hype city….

Oh my gosh, they’re back again… 

After a hugely successful DNA World Tour that saw the much celebrated group trot around the globe over the past year and a half, Abu Dhabi welcomed one of the greatest boybands of all time for an encore at the Etihad Arena in October, where they performed some of (actually, all of) their greatest hits in a stellar performance.

Diljit Dosanjh puts on Abu Dhabi’s biggest concert in 8 years

Fans of the Punjabi superstar danced along to his biggest hits at Etihad Park, with 30,000 of them bringing the energy to a new high on Yas with desi hits ringing through the air in November.