The Dubai Fountain

Look at the surface of the lake: those barely visible rows of nozzles form the Dubai Fountain, one of the largest choreographed fountains in the world. When a show starts, the water rises, curves and falls to the rhythm of the music, and at night it is lit by thousands of lights.

1From Las Vegas to the desert

It was designed by WET Design, the Californian company behind the fountains of the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. It was officially inaugurated on 8 May 2009, alongside The Dubai Mall. It is about 275 metres long, and its most powerful jets can reach about 150 metres, roughly the height of a fifty-storey building.

2Music for water

Each show is choreographed to a different song: Arabic classics, international hits and pieces composed specially for it. The compressed-air cannons, the shooters, produce the highest bursts, and you can hear and feel their thump from the promenade.

Water, the scarcest resource in the desert, turned into a free show at the foot of the world’s tallest skyscraper.

It is one of the images that best sums up Dubai: a country that desalinated seawater to survive now also uses it to amaze. The fountain has been renovated to upgrade its lighting and sound systems, so you may spot something new.

3What to look for

• The lines of nozzles, forming circles and arcs across the lake.
• The Burj Khalifa behind, the city’s most classic photo.
• The wooden boats that sometimes sail on the lake, in imitation of the abras.