On 12 December 2025, the Liwa International Festival 2026 opened with a spectacular twenty-minute ceremony honouring His Highness and celebrating the rich traditions of the region. Set against the towering Moreeb Dune, the production transformed one of the world's most extraordinary natural landscapes into a stage for light, music and storytelling.

Artists in Motion conceived and orchestrated a multi-layered experience that combined projections across a 46,000-square-metre desert canvas, 2,000 synchronised drones by Nova Sky Stories, lasers, bespoke music by Michael Tan and a breathtaking fireworks finale. Together, these elements unfolded as an emotional journey through the festival's origins, its enduring legacy and its vision for the future.

Performed before members of the Royal Family, distinguished guests and a live regional broadcast audience, the ceremony marked a powerful beginning to another unforgettable chapter in the story of Liwa.