(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 29 - Six months after it raised the curtain six in spectacular fashion, Expo 2020 Dubai is set to go out with a bang this week.
    While the official closing ceremony at Al Wasl Plaza from 1900 to 2000 GST on Thursday is reserved for 'VIP guests' made up of school children aged seven to nine, the Expo 2020 Dubai site will be a hive of pulsating energy and excitement from the time the gates open at 1000 GST on 31 March, through to the final closure at 0300 GST on 1 April.
    Having already hosted more than 30,000 events across 96 locations on the Expo 2020 Dubai site - including 3,000 in Al Wasl Plaza, and more than 500 for children and families - the closing ceremony is set to be a moment of triumph.
    "As the event reaches its final chapter, we will be highlighting everything we have accomplished over the past six months and celebrating everyone who made it happen," said Amna Abulhoul, Executive Creative Director, Expo 2020 Dubai said. "This is a time to reflect on those things that are most important to us.
    Before our souls leave the earth our lives flash before us, and we will re-live some of Expo 2020 Dubai's most important moments.
    "We started with the sunrise when Expo opened, and the closing ceremony is the sunset. But this is not the end; it's the start of something new." Tareq Ghosheh, Chief Events and Entertainment Officer, Expo 2020 said: "public and private school children who have been active participants, performers, contributors and innovators, will be our VIP guests because they are the generation of the future who will carry the legacy of Expo 2020 Dubai forward. We are empowering the leaders of tomorrow." Kate Randall, Vice President, Ceremonies & Programming, Events and Entertainment, Expo 2020 Dubai said: "The starting point for the closing ceremony was thinking about what Expo 2020 Dubai has meant to everyone, and what it has delivered. No one is competing and there are no barriers.
    "The Sea of Nations segment, where we call all the countries back into the space with their flags from their National Day celebrations, is a beautiful moment and one to keep your eye out for." Throughout the evening, there will be three firework displays from multiple locations, starting during the last few minutes of the closing ceremony, followed by one at 2355 GST, and culminating with the third and final one at 0300 GST. (ANSA).