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Empty quarter, Abu Dhabi
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You hear it before you see it. Hundreds of all-terrain vehicles tearing the desert, the roaring of engines echoing over the dunes. The noise goes all night and makes it impossible to grab Stey.
No one is.
“There’s no sleep in Liwa,” says Ginger Crook, a 23-year-old Dutch motorsport enthusiast. “That’s crazy.”
Every year, the Liwa International Festival attracts a large number of car fanatics deep into the sky, a vast desert that stretches from the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia.
A three-hour drive from Abu Dhabi, the landscape is mostly empty all year round, with the exception of the black top and new ribbons of towering dunes.
In December, it will be like a Motohead dream.
“They get together and drive,” says Crook, who is scheduled to return to her fourth festival this December. “Everything you can think of related to off-road driving can be found there.”
Local Emiratis first recognized the potential of motorsports for Liwa Oasis over 20 years ago. They began gathering on off-road vehicles, over 300 meters (about 1,000 feet) in the highest region in the region. The challenge was simple: reach the summit.
The official festival was created in 2004 and has grown steadily. According to the event organizers, it attracted over 600,000 visitors in 2024. Alongside Motorsports, the cultural programme takes shape, with fireworks being fired every night.
But the central attraction – running through the Maulevu dunes – remains the same.
“Everyone is watching ascend,” Crook says. “They are waiting for things to happen.”
The audience cheers on the drivers, but the dunes are difficult. In Arabic, Moab means “terrifying.”
“If the tires aren’t big enough, the suspension isn’t enough. You can’t get up,” she says. “You can’t scare because it’s full throttle or nothing.”
The small, unterrifying dunes serve as obstacles to the “dune bashing” race where cars and trucks drift across the desert, leaving exhaust and sandy sand behind.
Christian LeBlanc, 32, a Canadian influencer who attended last year, was “a city of this kind of crazy max feeling.” “There were these huge lights illuminating the dunes, and as we got closer, we saw these (cars) were driving up and down, and we kept getting closer.
Despite its size, the Liwa Festival continues to be a local gathering.
“It was a very Emirati event,” says LeBlanc. “It allowed me to meet locals and really felt like I was flying to a wall where I was experiencing something unique.”
He adds that the unbound energy of the festival is difficult to imagine in his hometown.
“We definitely don’t fly in Canada,” he says. “There was an absolutely crazy truck roaring up and down. I’d never seen anything like that.
This year’s event, running from December 12th to January 3rd, features staples that made Liwa famous: Falconry, Camel Races, Hot-Air Balloons, A Fear’s Celebration, and hundreds of food vendors.
“I think we had 100 or 200 restaurants last season,” says Salem Almazrouei, founder of the nearby Liwa Nights Glamping Retreat. “It’s coming more and more.”
Most often, the charm is the freedom to drive through some of the world’s most challenging terrain surrounded by fellow thrill seekers.
“Every year, I make new friends,” Crook says. “Everyone drinks coffee, tea and then a BBQ together.”
Festival participants will camp in tents or vehicles and stay calm or awake with the engine roaring.
“I park my car on the hill, I wake up and open the door and see all the cars, all the campers and everything parked,” says Crook.
Not everyone is a fan of Liwa International Festival. Over 11 million liters of fuel were consumed last year, according to its official website. Pollution and noise are inevitable.
But for those who enjoy the groans of the V8 engine, it’s unparalleled.
“We love it,” Crook says. “Crazy, better.”
