“Welcome to our Coastal Community”: Field Notes from Abu Dhabi’s Maritime Heritage Festival Circuit

This article contextualizes and explores two important cultural heritage festivals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Maritime Heritage Festival and the Dalma Historic Race Festival. These festivals are distinctly maritime in nature, and are noteworthy manifestations of broader trends in the regional cultural heritage landscape. As such, they are ideal sites to study – and shape – educational efforts about the region’s past. After offering commentary on some temporal and spatial aspects of these festivals, this article offers suggestions for increased reach and educational effectiveness of the events, focusing on their pedagogical strategies and their emplacement along the UAE’s coastline.