6th Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival announced

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The festival is the region's foremost cultural event, attracting world-class artists from across the globe.

Next year's Festival will begin with a gala performance on Saturday 21 March and will run for two weeks, finishing on Saturday 4 April. Tickets are set to go on sale on 25 January next year, with full details of performers announced at that time.

H. E. Mrs Hoda I. Al Khamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, said:

'The Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival is now well-established as one of the highlights of the Gulf's cultural calendar, and we are delighted to be able to welcome the world's greatest living artists to Abu Dhabi for a sixth year. Next year, our line up of artists will be world-class - it's our most inspiring schedule yet.'

Al Khamis-Kanoo added, 'Just as important as our schedule of artists, however, is the other side of the Festival - the education and awards programme run by the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation. Throughout the Festival we will be running workshops and talks for the public to find out more about the performances.'

'In particular, we will be repeating the very successful Children's Day of previous years, which will see children from a wide range of local schools join professional artists for a series of live performances. And of course we will be announcing the winner of the 2009 Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival Award,' added Al Khamis-Kanoo.

The 6th Festival is set to build on the incredible success of 2008's event, which saw more than 9,000 people attend a schedule of performances ranging from ballet to Arabian and Western contemporary classical music. The Visual Arts Exhibition was also incorporated into the festival for the first time. Following the success of the exhibitions, workshops and educational programs held in venues across the city, the contribution of the visual arts is to be expanded in 2009.

With 35 public performances and events, the 5th Festival saw 2,150 tickets sold to the 10 major events, with many fully sold-out, and the Festival's organisers anticipate an even stronger demand for 2009's enlarged programme. 507 visiting artists and support staff made their way to Abu Dhabi for the last Festival, responsible for over 2,100 nights booked in local hotels.

The Festival is an integral part of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation's efforts to complement Abu Dhabi's cultural vision by setting the highest standards for social responsibility, and advancing the arts, education, culture and creativity in the Emirate.