| ۞ City Calendar |
Dubai's city calendar takes increasing advantage of the cooler months. December to March are now so busy that locals are almost relieved when the Dubai World Cup ends.
|
| ۞ JANUARY & FEBRUARY |
|
• DUBAI FASHION WEEK
With aspirations of joining Paris, Milan, New York and London as one of the world's leading fashion capitals,Dubai has included Fashion Week on its social calendar. Just two weeks after launching their spring/summer haute couture collections in Paris, the very best fashion houses, such as Christian Dior, Ungaro, Givenchy and Christian Lacroix, come to Dubai for five days. DUBAI INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Held during the Shopping Festival, this event is staged over three nights at Dubai Media City. The festival showcases a diverse array of musical offerings, including jazz, funk, Afro and Latin.
|
 |
|
• DUBAI MARATHON
The event offers a full marathon, a 10km run and 3km fun run. While those in Dubai during the hotter months might think this is madness, the January date means the temperature is quite pleasant. We're still not sure running through the Shindagha Tunnel is a great idea though. |
|
|
Top Five Quirky Events
-
Concerts Any live event involving
has-been rock stars playing the hits to boost their
retirement fund or a visiting diva down on her luck
looking for a captive audience - yes, that's you Whitney
and Mariah.
-
Diwali Festival Only the Indian
expats can pronounce the names of the different days of
the festival or know what its about, but the food's
good, there're lots of pretty lights and yes, I'd love
some more biryani.
-
Dubai International Jazz Festival
Memo: We'll call it a 'jazz' festival instead of just a
music festival because it sounds, well, more
sophisticated. But we can't really have too many jazz
artists because no-one will turn up. And we'll have a
style of music called 'diva' - you know, women singing
ballads while wearing evening gowns.
-
Dubai Shopping Festival's Global
Village There's nothing like watching a Chinese magician
in Dubai performing in front of some Somalis eating
Lebanese food.
-
Wooden powerboat racing Open only to
UAE nationals, this sport combines the traditional art
of wooden boat building with the noise and pollution
resulting from bolting a couple of outboards on the back
and driving like there's no tomorrow.
|
• DUBAI SHOPPING FESTIVAL
Running for a month from mid-January, this festival is not just about shopping, it's about shopping for stuff from all around the world at the 'Global Village'. The hotels are full, there's live music and performances, fireworks every night and, in keeping with the global village theme, spectacular traffic jams that must have been imported from Los Angeles, starting every day around 4pm and lasting well into the night.
• DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Held over two weeks from late February, the championships consist of a
Women's Tennis Association (WTA) event followed by an Association of
Tennis Professionals (ATP) one. While the women and men slug it out from
the baseline, we kinda miss Anna Koumikova getting knocked out of the
tournament early in the week and then being spotted all over town.
|
| ۞ MARCH |
|
• DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC
The Dubai Desert Classic lures some of the best Golfers in the world to Dubai to partake in one of the world's richest golf tournaments. Just as celebrity mad Dubai stalked Anna Kournikova, Tiger Woods is similarly obsessed over in Dubai and was offered a reported US$3 million to turn up In 2004. His best golf of the tournament, however, was when he hit some balls off the helipad at Burj Al Arab.
|
|
• DUBAI WORLD CUP
The Dubai international Racing Carnival, running from February through
the end of March, culminates In the Dubai World cup, the world's richest
horse race with prize money of a dizzying US$6 million and a total purse
of over US$15 million. While there's no betting, many of Dubai society's
women take a punt in wearing some of the silliest hats this side of the
Melbourne Cup.
|
 |
|
• Sharjah Cup
So it's not actually in Dubai, but the Sharjah Cup, usually held
in March or April, is a firm fixture on Dubai's sporting calendar.
Participating cricket teams change every year, but there are three
competing nations each time, one of which is India or Pakistan. The
stadium holds up to 22,000 fanatical supporters - a match between India
and Pakistan held here is quite an event.
|
| ۞ JUNE |
|
• DUBAI SUMMER SURPRISES
Similar to the Dubai Shopping Festival, this event is a more family-oriented affair and has been successful in attracting Gulf State visitors who would normally sit out the heat somewhere more pleasant than Dubai in summer. One of the key attractions is the room rates - much cheaper than at other times of the year.
|
| ۞ OCTOBER |
• UAE DESERT CHALLENGE
This desert rally starts off in Abu Dhabi and finishes in Dubai. The UAE Desert Challenge is held over four days, covers some challenging terrain, and attracts car, truck and motorbike riders.
|
| ۞ DECEMBER |
• DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Aimed at the multicultural local community and international visitors, the goal of this international film festival is to build cultural bridges. |
 |
| |
Back
