Saturday, June 23, 2007

Dubai Summer Surprises...

People in Dubai love shopping... there are so many malls... and each and every one of them is bursting at the seams with people. Now that the Summer Surprises has started, entire Dubai will become one massive shopping mall. Dubai Summer Surprises is the way Dubai blackmails people into forgetting about the blistering heat with fabulous sales and different weekly themes for kids ranging from color surprises, knowledge surprises, heritage surprises to sweets surprises a whole gamut of stuff geared to entertaining kids, these activities happen mainly in malls. And of course there is Modhesh Fun City

They build an entire city called Modhesh Fun City, 30,000 sq mts facility offering a world of entertainment, an indoor destination, they have an entire amusement park inside the Airport Expo. Divided into over 20 different zones, the Fun City caters to a wide spectrum of interests. It offers a number of new zones this year such as the Ice Arena, Story Teller Zone, Library and Pet Zone besides the regular ones from the past. Toddlers Zone, Tech Zone, Balloon Art Zone, Arts and Crafts Zone, Fun fair areas, Humtaro and Fulla play houses are just some of the delights awaiting kids.

The East Hall of the Fun City is the hub of major events to be held at the Fun City throughout this season. Besides it also features the Family Court with a Modhesh Restaurant, Inflatable Zone, Sand Zone, Ice Arena, Story Teller Zone, Snack Kiosk, Sports Zone, Fun Fair and an information booth. The Ice Arena has a small skating rink and ice field for the visitors. The West Hall which hosts the Pet Zone and Animal Zone also has Redemption Zone, Family Court and yet another Modhesh Restaurant, RTA Zone, Animal Zone, Think and Play Zone, Snack Kiosk, Youla, Heritage Zone, Fun Fair for Kids and an Information booth.

Additionally, the Surprises brings together world-renowned music shows, art exhibitions, and folk dances plus a huge number of promotions - purchase-related raffles where you can win BMWs, and numerous other scratch ‘n’ win promotions. Besides this there will 8 in-mall events, Spa packages for visitors, attractions like “Cartoonival” and “Hello Kitty” mega shows, in addition to the Wonderful Circus which features highly acclaimed performances reflecting elements of dance, pantomime and theatre, other attractions include classical and Jazz music concerts from around the world for the die-hard music aficionados.

The Ten Surprises are one of the biggest attractions and the highlights of the festival. Unlike the previous editions where each Surprise lasted a week, DSS 2007 will have all the Surprises run through till August 31 – a full 72 days of non-stop excitement and entertainment for the whole family. There's a new inclusion this year for those who love to laugh. Comedy Surprises will showcase the best of humour and laughter for ten weeks continuous. The other exciting Surprises are: Art, Food, Flower, Heritage, Global, Nature, Cartoon, Adventure, and Knowledge, in addition to Comedy Surprises. Dubai''''s modern and expansive malls, under the Dubai Shopping Malls Group (DSMG), will host the Ten Surprises on a rotational basis, making the whole event easily accessible to all DSS visitors this year.

Normally sumer was the one time that people living in Dubai were happy as most would go away for vacations and the terrible traffic would ease but with the success of DSS - no such luck according to a press release, this year being the 10th anniversary promises to be one of maddening rush, totally disrupting the life of the people living here who unfortunately are not on summer vacations. Summertime is no longer an outbound season in Dubai, as a large number of visitors pour in for the holiday season which has a gazillion activities and events, shows and shopping bonanzas as part of the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS).

Since its inception in the year 1998 the DSS has contributed immensely to boosting summer tourism in the UAE. This time round celebrating its 10th anniversary the summer fiesta has lots in store for everyone as it’s expected to surpass all previous records. With so much lined up for the upcoming holiday season airlines are upbeat about the business ahead. As has been the trend Dubai is bracing itself to welcome an influx of tourists from the neighbouring GCC as well as Europe and the Sub-continent to indulge in the summertime celebrations that will hit the city in a few days from now.

Actually it already has... the traffic vouches for it ...ah! well at least the sales will be good


P.S.: The year before last year I had covered each surprise for a television channel, this year I'll cover it for you guys - - as much I can get out in the rush. Will take pictures to show you the insanity that is DSS. The first week event will be Art Surprises to be held at Dubai Festival City. Here's the description from a press release


Arts Surprises: Dubai Festival City
The first week features a painting exhibition showcasing works of mainly local artists in different mediums. The highlight though will be the photography exhibition that will display images of photographers from Iran, India, Lebanon, Kuwait, Romania, Germany, Oman, Poland, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, and many other countries. Workshops on fashion and jewellery, arts and crafts, and a clay animation workshop will be held everyday during the week. Dubai Festival City will host the Surprise from 5pm to 10pm. A story telling show featuring Jamal Krayyem titled "Suwar" is also being organized for children. A show titled Two Hands Theatre is also being arranged for mall visitors.

If I were a kid, summer here would be like I had been given a free pass to wonderland!

15 comments:

Blur Ting said...

I can imagine....everything's done on a grand scale in Dubai!

Tawnya Shields said...

Wow! What a visual delight! I would love to see this. Thank you for sharing this enchanting place.

Unknown said...

It's great for the kids but for people going to work the traffic becomes more insane than it is normally...which is saying something.

paisley said...

believe it or not i had never even heard of dubai before i met you... it sounds like a big huge las vegas to me...what an amazing place it must be....

Bobby Revell said...

I have never been there. I grew up in Europe and now live in America. It sounds very festive. You are the only person I have ever met who lives there:)

Fall In Line.... said...

All right ..not that I hate kids...but DSS is just too much to handle for a normal being...Every mall that you step into is filled with Kids yelling and running around all over the place...with their ultra rich parents puring money on fast food and ice creams which they keep spilling all over the place...to visit malls during DSS is nothing short of a nightmare .. :P

Epimenides said...

Dubai never ceases to amaze me. Credit to them for trying to make good use of the country's riches! It sounds ace!

Anonymous said...

I live in Bahrain, and this country appears like a tiny village compared to Dubai... hehe

What's mind-blowing about Dubai is constantly evolving and so fast that on each visit you see something dramatically different in the cityscape. It's one place that's making perfect justice to Donald Trump's quote: "As long as you’re going to think anyway – you might as well think BIG!”

However, I was rather disappointed to learn recently that Burj Dubai, the landmark building that was set to be the tallest building in the world, will now only be the the second tallest, falling barely 40 metres short of Taipei 101 (509 m) in Taiwan.

Wasn't there something, anything, they could have done to make Burj Dubai just 40.1 metres taller??? :(

Unknown said...

It's current height is 492.9 - they are keep its height a secret till it's done. Here's some info

Facts & Description:


- The Height of Burj Dubai is being kept private, and will not be told until it is complete. According to the developers, it will be the tallest building on earth. However at the end of June 2006 a height of 2650ft (807.7m) has been made public by some of the firms involved in this project.

- When anounced in early 2003, the Burj Dubai's design was the same as the 560 meter Melbourne Grollo Tower design. However, in May 2003 a new design by SOM was released.

- An observation deck will be located on the 124th floor

- Scheduled to be opened on 30th December 2008

- Will have the fastest elevators in the world with a speed of 700m/min (42.3 kmh / 26.1 mph)

- Work on the foundations started in January 2004.

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

Wow, nice malls and stuff you have there. Sure looks like a nice pplace to visit. Thanx for dropping by my blog.

tigergirl said...

This sounds amazing - can't wait to hear more from our 'reporter on the ground' lol

Unknown said...

Nick Phillips: It is but not in summer when the temperature reaches to a scorching 51 degree Celsius

Tigergirl: The rush is so insane that parking in malls takes like half an hour too find... so this reporter might not be the most effective one ;)

The Real Mother Hen said...

Gee it sounds fun! Looks like I need to plan a Summer Getaway to Dubai next year :)

Unknown said...

..please come I'll be your tour guide....

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