The first International Festival of Falconry Conference was held in Abu Dhabi in 1976 under the patronage of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE. He led the world’s first initiatives to preserve falconry as an important element in the heritage of Abu Dhabi, the UAE and around the world.
During the conference, those interested in falconry began the long journey, which, through many efforts at the regional and international levels, resulted in the recording of falconry as a living human heritage in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2010.
Carrying on the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed, the International Festival of Falconry continues today under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.
