Expo City Dubai to welcome first visitors from September 1

Mobility and Terra pavilions and the Garden in the Sky to open this week before main October 1 relaunch

Expo City Dubai is set to open in phases from September 2022, with a full relaunch in October. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

Visitors can take a trip on the Garden in the Sky from September 1 for Dh30.

Later, as residential sectors open, the district will become a '24-hour neighbourhood' in which people live and work, and can visit.

The Expo metro station in June 2022.

Dubai Exhibition Centre in June 2022.

Ahmed Al Khatib, chief development and delivery officer and Marjan Faraidooni, chief visitor experience officer at Expo 2020 Dubai, at a news conference in June 2022 to announce Expo City Dubai.

The entrance gates await new residents and businesses.

Ahmed Al Khatib said the district would be free of single plastics and was built with an emphasis on the environment.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed, chairman of Dubai Airports, speaking at a press conference welcoming the next chapter at Expo City Dubai.

Latest: Map shows how much of Expo City will be open this week

Expo City Dubai will welcome the first visitors through its gates from Thursday, September 1, before a full relaunch in October.

Visitors can gain access to two of the anchor pavilions, Mobility and Terra, as part of a phased launch of the legacy site, a successor to the six-month world's fair bonanza that closed in late March.

Organisers on Monday said the move was the "first chapter of Expo City Dubai’s journey".

Tickets will cost Dh50 per person, per pavilion, and are available at www.expocitydubai.com. They can also be purchased at four box offices at Expo City Dubai from Thursday.

Garden in the Sky, with its 360-degree views, will also open on Thursday, with adult tickets priced at Dh30 each. Attractions are free for children aged 12 and under and People of Determination.

Alif and Terra will be open daily from 10am to 6pm, while Garden in the Sky will open from 3pm to 6pm, extending to 10am to 6pm from Friday, September 16 onwards.

The expanded Dubai Metro will serve visitors and staff.

Although some transitional work is still underway, "much of Expo City Dubai’s public realm will be open and is free to visit," organisers said in a statement on Monday.

Other Expo favourites – including Al Wasl Plaza, the Surreal water feature, the Women’s Pavilion and the Vision Pavilion, as well as children’s playgrounds and the carousel – will open from October 1.

Later this year, the Opportunity Pavilion will become the Expo 2020 Dubai Museum – a new addition highlighting the history and impact of World Expos.

In a statement, organisers said they were looking forward to the return of school trips, with the Expo School Programme preparing an "awe-inspiring and evolving array of immersive educational experiences, exhibits and interactive workshops, reflecting the themes of the pavilions".

Earlier this month, Al Wasl Plaza, the centrepiece of Expo, was longlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2022.

Timeline of Expo 2020 Dubai: in pictures