Ukrainian company creates New Year light show for Burj Khalifa in Dubai

On New Year's night, Dec. 31, thousands of people flocked to Dubai downtown to see a futuristic laser show displayed on the walls of the world's highest building – Burj Khalifa. The company responsible for this show is Ukrainian Magic Innovations that claims that they are the first Ukrainians to have been selected for the annual event.

Founded by businessman Ostap Khytruk in 2015, the company has a team of 20 people with offices in Kyiv, Dubai and New York.

It spent nearly 500 hours creating content for the eight-minute-long New Year show displayed on an 828-meter-high screen. The preparation lasted for three months, but Magic Innovations has been dreaming about it for nearly six years since its team first saw the Burj Khalifa laser show in Dubai.

"For several years in a row, we submitted an application for participation, but without success," Khytruk said. The company didn't give up: "We have set a goal for the whole world to learn about our work," he added.

Magic Innovations was first selected to create a light show for the Muslim religious holiday Eid al-Fitr. The project turned out to be very popular and the company's client started to broadcast it every day on Burj Khalifa's facade.

Magic Innovations show caught the attention of one of the largest real estate developers in Dubai – Emaar Properties. "It was impressed and said that it wants our company to make a New Year show," Khytruk said.

The laser show displayed on Burj Khalifa on New Year's night was accompanied by music and a festive firework. It was also broadcast on thousands of screens across the country.

Magic Innovations couldn't reveal how much it spent on the project due to the non-disclosure agreement with its client.

According to Magic Innovations, such light shows are broadcast on thin sticks up to 50 centimeters long with built-in light-emitting diodes. Each diode is a pixel that can display either a static color or a dynamic video effect. The total length of all sticks on the facade of Burj Khalifa is nearly 28 kilometers.

Apart from Emaar Properties, Magic Innovations has worked with nearly 20 clients in Ukraine and abroad. It decorated a facade of the Gulliver shopping mall in Kyiv, created a 3D animation for Saudi Airlines Expo and a light show displayed on Riyad Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in Saudi Arabia.

The company's dream is to see its work displayed on the world's largest architectural buildings, museums and galleries.

"We would also like to take part in the next Olympic Games and the Oscar ceremony," the company said in an interview with the Ukrainian tech media Ain.ua.