It was one of the world's grandest openings that will be talked about for years to come. On the 20th of November 2008, the Palm Jumeirah and its flagship resort, Atlantis, in Dubai — opened to a spectacular fireworks display.

Invited guests enjoyed three days of celebration, with the highlight being performances by music legend Kylie Minogue and Nawal Al Zoghbi — one of the biggest selling Arab artists of all time.

Bollywood Superstar Priyanka Chopra unveiled the world’s largest ever fireworks display, designed and executed by the Grucci’s. The display lite up 43 km of palm shaped shoreline and illuminating the entire island with more than 100,000 specially-designed pyrotechnic devices. The subsequent dinner was hosted by Nobu Matsuhisa, Santi Santamaria, Michel Rostang and Giorgio Locatelli.  

DJ Samantha Ronson was at the helm on the turntables, for both evening events joined by a host of notable names including: Charlize Theron, Michael Jordan, Robert DeNiro, Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Preity Zinta, Lily Allen, The Duchess of York, Agyness Deyn, Boris Becker, Petra Nemcova, Denzel Washington, Mary Kate Olsen, Mischa Barton, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham, Rani Mukherjee, Gosha Kutsenko and many others, who travelled from all corners of the globe to be there.

The Atlantis, The Palm is a 1,539 room, ocean-themed destination resort located at the centre of the crescent of the man-made Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, with 17 hectares of water park amusement, further marine and entertainment attractions and a collection of some of the most renowned world-class chefs. Years in the making, the resort is recognised as being a masterful engineering feat.

Visit: Palm Jumeirah

Singer Kylie Minogue
Photograph by Getty Images/Atlantis, The Palm