Dubai breaks world record of largest fireworks display

Dubai bade farewell to 2013 and welcomed 2014 in style with a dazzling display of over 500,000 fireworks for around six minutes, which led to a world record for the largest such display, Guinness World Records said.

It took 10 months in planning to put together the show, which covered a distance of over 94 km of the city's seafront. The display incorporated some of Dubai's top landmarks, including Palm Jumeirah, World Islands, the Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, a statement on the Guinness website.

Ahead of the event, Alistair Richards, global president, Guinness World Records, who had specially travelled to Dubai from London to witness the display, had said: "The scale of this record attempt is truly impressive and will ensure all eyes are on Dubai."

A part of the spectacle's finale left onlookers spellbound as the fireworks created an artificial "sunrise" along the seafront, with the highest fireworks reaching more than one kilometre in height.

The aim was to beat a record set in 2012 during a display to mark Kuwait's golden jubilee, which saw a total of 77,282 fireworks launched.

Dubai's attempt broke that benchmark by some margin, with enough fireworks launched within the first minute of the display alone to surpass the previous record.

The fireworks display was designed by US firm Fireworks by Grucci.

The showcase used 100 computers to synchronise the pyrotechnics, along with a choreographed musical soundtrack. To make the success an event, over 200 expert technicians worked 5,000 man hours to ensure that the timing for each firework was accurate.