The Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi and the UAE Embassy in the Russian Federation opened the Discover Abu Dhabi Festival at Moscow’s Manezhnaya Square on Wednesday, with programming running through August 23. The five-day event was jointly organized by those two bodies and sits within the Moscow Mayor’s Summer in Moscow programme, backed by the Government of Moscow. Free and open to the public, it is designed to reach a broad cross-section of the Russian capital’s residents and visitors.
The institutional arrangement behind the festival reflects a deliberate diplomatic and cultural mandate. By embedding the event within an established Moscow city programme, Abu Dhabi’s cultural authorities have secured a high-visibility platform that carries the endorsement of the host government. That framing positions the festival less as a standalone promotional exercise and more as a formal act of cultural diplomacy conducted through recognized civic channels.
Live performances anchor the programming. Visitors encounter traditional music ensembles alongside Al-Ayyala and Al Harbiya, both rooted in Emirati practice. Al-Ayyala carries particular institutional weight: it is inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a designation that lends the performance an internationally recognized status beyond its cultural significance alone.
The festival’s physical layout divides into several dedicated pavilions. The House of Artisans displays and demonstrates traditional crafts, including Talli embroidery, Khos palm-leaf weaving, Sadu weaving, and pottery, with skilled artisans conducting live workshops throughout. A separate space, Bait Al Gahwa, is devoted to the traditional preparation and serving of Arabic coffee as practiced within the Emirati majlis, the gathering space central to Gulf Arab hospitality.
A Maritime Pavilion addresses Abu Dhabi’s historical relationship with the sea. Live demonstrations cover rope-making, pearl-diving equipment, fishing net crafting, and the construction of Gargoor fish-traps, practices that shaped the region’s economy for centuries. An interactive dome rounds out the experiential offer, projecting 360-degree visuals of Abu Dhabi’s landmarks, cultural sites, and natural landscapes.
Meanwhile, the festival also operates as a commercial space. Retail areas offer traditional Emirati souvenirs, handcrafted goods, and perfumes, while food stalls serve regional dishes alongside the performative and educational elements.
By situating the event within Moscow’s summer programming and maintaining free public access, the organizers have drawn a clear line between cultural exchange and exclusive or commercially gated gatherings. Whether the model, a state-backed cultural institution partnering with a diplomatic mission to deliver free public programming inside a host city’s official calendar, becomes a template for future UAE cultural outreach abroad remains an open question.