Mother of the Nation Festival in Abu Dhabi extended until New Year's Day

The annual family-friendly event on the Corniche has been a huge success

Anima is an immersive lighting experience at the Mother of the Nation festival in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Anima made its debut on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi

Knafeh, Jerusalem Street Food from Australia serves up dishes at the Mother of the Nation festival

A person experiences Anima at the Mother of the Nation festival

Knafeh, Jerusalem Street Food employees prepare dishes for the festival

Truffle Burger from the UK has come to the festival

Youseum, the Instagrammable museum from the Netherlands at the Mother of the Nation festival

Anderson Tegon, creator of Anima

Visitors engage with Anima on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi

Poppy Sherwood, 10, visits the Youseum

Visitors enjoy Anima

The festival includes games for visitors young and old

The entrance to the food hub at the festival

People play the VR game Versus at the festival

The games section welcomes visitors at the festival

The Mother of the Nation Festival on the Abu Dhabi Corniche has been extended due to popular demand.

After originally being planned to end last Sunday, the event will return on Friday and run until New Year's Day.

Supported by the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi, the festival is a carnival-inspired, family-friendly event first launched in 2016.

It is one of the biggest entertainment festivals in the region, including art installations, local and international music performances, food pop-ups activities for young visitors.

What to expect at this year's festival

This year's event has six zones: the Live Arena for concerts and entertainment, the Inspire Space for art and creativity, the Food Hub for food pop-ups and culinary experiences.

There's also the Amusement Park, a space dedicated to children with fairground rides and play parks, the Shopping District for pop-up fashion stores from local and global brands, and the Thrill Zone for virtual reality and physical games and activities.

Performances at the Live Arena have so far included Emirati singer Aryam, Egyptian singer Mohamed Hamaki, Khaleeji boyband Miami Band from Kuwait and Iraqi singer Aseel Hameem.

Although there are usually live performances, it hasn't been announced if this will be the case during the last week. However, visitors to the extended portion of the festival can expect more of the same fun and activities offered during the first portion of the event.

More information is available at www.motn.ae