Manama: With an expected 5million visitors and spending of around Dh17.5billion, Dubai is gearing up to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dubai Shopping Festival, which will run from January 1st to February 1st, 2015.
Addressing a Press conference during a road show at Westin Hotel, Saeed Mohammed Mesam Al Falasi, Director Alliance Division at Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment told The24X7News Bahrain (www.twentyfoursevennews.com) that this year organizers expect 3% to 5% increase in 4.5 million visitors received during 2014 in addition to 5% to 8% increase in the Dh 16billion spent by shoppers during the same festival.
“We offer families and visitors a unique experience during DSF every year by offering them entertainment, shopping and prizes during the whole festival period,” he said.
The Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), held a press conference at the Westin Hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain today, to announce the line-up of events, activities and promotions at the milestone 20th edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival, which will run from January 1st to February 1st, 2015 under the theme “A Journey of Celebrations.”
The special anniversary edition organized by DFRE is all set to be the biggest in the festival’s history, with a spectacular calendar of events that embraces DSF’s key pillars of Shopping, Entertainment and Winnings and brings to life the 20th Anniversary theme “Journey of Celebrations” which pays tribute to DSF’s position as the longest running festival of its kind and the biggest family extravaganza in the world.
“Celebrating the 20th edition is a huge achievement for DSF. The festival’s long and rich history mirrors Dubai’s journey of becoming an international shopping destination – with an incredibly diverse range of retail experiences from luxury malls to traditional souks to high street shopping, luxury boutiques and unbeatable bargains,” Saeed Al Falasi, said.
“The GCC has always been a key market for Dubai and DSF mainly due to a combination of factors such as its geographical proximity and the fact that we share the same values and cultural backgrounds. Moreover, families – our key audience – constitute the bulk of the visitors from this region. Over the past two decades DSF with its family-friendly calendar of events has evolved from a shopping festival to become a truly inspiring time to experience Dubai as a family tourism destination, and we are confident that the 20th anniversary edition will offer visitors even more memorable and rewarding moments.”
The 20th anniversary edition’s calendar of events includes a range of world-class shows such as the DSF Concerts series which will celebrate 20 years of DSF in grand style by staging the biggest entertainment extravaganza in the history of the shopping festival. A series of 10 concerts will be staged over the weekends of DSF and will feature 20 of the biggest musical artists of the Arab world.
Other highlights include mega fireworks displays every weekend that will add to the citywide illuminations aimed at creating a vibrant festival ambience, a series of celebrity-hosted pop-up shops, exciting stage shows including “MAMMA MIA!” the smash hit musical and the world premiere of “Smurfs Live on Stage”, as well as high-end fashion events such as Abati and a second edition of the highly-successful Market OTB that will give shoppers the opportunity to indulge in some unique retail therapy.
As always, mega raffles will offer visitors and residents the opportunity to win big including the Infiniti Mega Raffle which will offer two luxury Infiniti cars and AED 100,000 in cash every day to one lucky shopper for 32 days of the festival. As a DSF 20th Anniversary Special, shoppers participating in the Infiniti Mega Raffle will also get the chance to win additional prizes worth over AED 2 million. Another amazing offer is the Gold and Jewellery Mega Raffle, which will give away a total of 100 kg of gold and 40 carats of diamond during the 20th anniversary edition of DSF – making it the largest-ever gold raffle to be held in the region.
Other popular raffles will include the Nissan Grand Raffle, offering one lucky winner one Nissan car every day for the duration of the festival.
To commemorate the 20th edition, the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group in association with Dubai Festivals & Retail establishment (DFRE), will also be manufacturing the world’s longest handmade gold chain – a 5 kilometer (extendable to 8 kilometer) creation that will be made out of a minimum of 160 kilos of gold in a bid to set a new Guinness World Record.
Visitors can also prolong their holiday experience beyond DSF, as the city will once again go into celebration mode in early February when DFRE organizes the second edition of Dubai Food Festival aimed at showcasing Dubai as the gastronomy capital of the region. Dubai Food Festival 2015 will be held from 6 – 28 February featuring an array of food-related events and activities across the city.