Representatives from 59 nations will this evening attend the opening ceremony of the 44th WorldSkills finals (live stream at the end of article).

Around 1,300 competitors and members of the UAEs royal family, will be joined by technical experts, delegates, and supporters and to observe one of the most spectacular WorldSkills ceremonies in competition’s history.

Taking place from 16:30 (BST) and 19:30 (local UAE time) at the newly built du Arena in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island district, organisers have spent several days converting the space ahead of this evening’s ceremony.

The opening ceremony marks the start of a four-day intensive competition which will see competitors undertake their toughest challenge to date.

Apart from the parade of nations, where competing countries are formally presented to a global audience; the official programme for the evening has been a closely guarded secret.

 

So far, limited information has been released to the press – however, sources close to WorldSkills have suggested the evening will feature a fly pass from UAEs air force, an address from a representative of the royal family and performances reflecting the history and culture of the local area and world.

The ceremony will last for around two and a half hours. A live stream of the ceremony is available below.

Follow the FE Week twitter feed (@FEWeek) for live coverage of the ceremony and competition.

Competing will officially commence tomorrow morning at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and finish on Wednesday afternoon. The closing ceremony will take place on Thursday evening where results will be announced and medals presented to the winning competitors in each of the 51 skills.

Send your message of good luck to the team using the #TeamUK and our ‘Go Team UK’ social media image. (click here to download). Also include the official event hashtag #WS_AbuDhabi .

FE Week are proud to be the official media partners for Team UK and WorldSkills UK.