From January 24 to February 24, 2008, under the motto “ONE WORLD, ONE FAMILY, ONE FESTIVAL”, THE ANNUAL TRADITIONAL DUBAI TRADING FESTIVAL HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY EXCELLENT. EVERY YEAR TOURISTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD PLAN THEIR VACATION IN SUCH A WAY TO GO TO DUBAI DURING DTF. WHAT'S THE SECRET? EVERYTHING IS SIMPLE. EXCEPT FAVORABLE PURCHASES, DUBAI TRADE FESTIVAL OFFERS CITY GUESTS HOLIDAY EVERY DAY.
The DTF-2008 program included more than 100 colorful and exciting events that became an integral part of the so-called “fifth season” - a period of unique opportunities for shopping, entertainment and incredible rallies. The festival was attended by more than 4,000 stores and 40 shopping centers of the city, offering discounts of up to 75% on goods of international brands.
MISS FORTUNE
For many years, DTF draws and lotteries have been very popular. This year, the prize pool of the Mega Raffles Draw lottery amounted to 1 million dirhams (US $ 272.5 thousand) daily. Lexus raffled off 2 new Lexus ES 350 and RX 350 models daily, with the winners also able to receive their winnings in cash for a notional amount of 100,000 units, but the winning currency was constantly changing. In total, 32 currencies from the pound sterling, the US dollar, the euro to the Turkish lira, the Argentine peso or the Iranian tomman took part in the drawing. Thus, the winners received their prizes equivalent to sums from 400 to 750 000 dirhams.
Nissan daily presented one car to the winner of its lottery. In addition, 3 cars were played during the mega-lotteries on weekends, with all the coupons of the current week taking part in the drawing.
Dubai Gold & Jewelry Group (Gold and Jewelry Merchants) played daily 1 kg gold bars. Given the not very high prices for gold products in Dubai, the chances of winning this prize were high enough for everyone. Tickets for participation in the gold draw were issued to everyone who purchased products from it for a certain amount.
TRIBUTE TO TRADITIONS
The opening ceremony of the festival took place on January 24 in the new district of Dubai Festival City. It was a grandiose in scale and very colorful event with bright light and sound effects, in which the most talented actors from around the world took part.
Do not think that the Dubai Trade Festival is only discounts and street performances. The traditional Dubai Fashion show, the most prestigious event in the Dubai fashion industry, was held from 10 to 12 February at Madinat Jumeirah and was a great opportunity for fashion designers from around the world to express themselves in the Middle East fashion market. The organizers of Dubai Fashion, as always, were the DTF Organizing Committee, Etoile Group and its President Inji Chalhub, BurJuman Shopping Center.
As part of the Taste of Dubai culinary festival (from January 25 to February 2), residents and guests of the city were able to get acquainted with the cuisines of different countries of the world and in just a few days try hundreds of dishes prepared by the most famous chefs. The culinary festival also brought together the best hotels and restaurants of Dubai in one place. Here, take our word for it, there was something to see and something to try.
Dubai Trade Festival does not ignore such a prestigious publication as the Guinness Book of Records. On February 16, for the first time, it was tentatively announced that an exciting event called "Dubai Records" would be held as part of the next festival, DTF-2009. At this event, attempts will be made to break already recorded local records. What else would dodgy dubai come up with? Let's wait!
The Dubai Festival of Experimental Theaters, held as part of the DTF from January 24 to February 8, offered the audience colorful entertaining performances in different languages with the participation of the best actors, directors, directors and artists.
Another traditional event entitled “Creativity is the Dream of Young Designers” has been held since 2004 and provides an opportunity for young fashion designers from different countries and with different work experience to express themselves with the support of the DTF Organizing Committee, which provides a venue for shows, choreographic staging and selection models. This year, "Creativity 2008" was held in the BurJuman shopping center from February 14 to 22. Many of the presented collections could well compete with eminent masters from the world of haute couture.
Other talents and skills were demonstrated by guests and residents of Dubai in the "House of Talents", which opened its hospitable doors for everyone in the "Global Village" from January 28 to March 1.
And finally, throughout the festival, the world-famous “Carpet Oasis” worked in the western hall of “Airport Expo” - this is a unique collection of old, modern and classic carpets, annually counting more than 150,000 items from Iran, India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Northern Caucasus and other parts of the globe.
NEW - IT'S GOOD FORGOTTEN OLD
This year, the DTF introduced a new entertainment concept called Festival Park. Throughout the festival, a number of festive events were held in Crickpark, including an air show, a family entertainment fair, a mini-farm, and others.
The streets of Al-Sif and Al-Murakkabat have become a kind of open-air festival centers. So, on Al Sif Street, along the Dubai Creek, there is a traditional "Night Bazaar", which was open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. from Sunday to Wednesday, and from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Thursday to Saturday. Visitors to the bazaar could stroll along the malls, bargain, as well as visit restaurants and numerous entertainment events. Al-Murakabat Street has become a venue for the international circus tent and entertainment fair.
Weekend mega shows are another highlight of the 2008 Dubai Trade Festival. So from February 7 to 9, the grandiose show "Dance of Fire and Light" took place, from February 14 to 16 in the World Village - the performance "Journey". In addition, fireworks were arranged on weekends, illuminating the night sky with colorful lights. In the framework of the current DTF, many music concerts were held with the participation of world celebrities - Amra Diyaba, Santana, Zakir Hussein and others. So the famous guitarist and singer Carlos Santana performed on February 15 at the Dubai Festival City. From February 21 to February 24, Dubai International City SkyWards Festival of Jazz Music was held in Dubai Media City, and on February 14, a popular Indian singer and composer and author of musical hits for Indian films Rahman performed on Valentine's Day.
In addition, the DTF also pleased sports enthusiasts by offering them a number of sports competitions - the boxing championship, football festival, Terry Fox's marathon, Baba Ramdev's yoga session and much more.
FIREWORKS FESTIVAL
The opening day of the Dubai Trade Festival 2008 was marked by the beginning of the "Fireworks Festival", which took place weekly from Thursday to Saturday until February 24 and became one of the most striking events of the year.
In Dubai Bay, near Al-Sif Street, there was a festively decorated barge with which fireworks were launched with a frequency of 300 volleys per minute (compared to the usual 100 volleys). The colorful music and light shows that spectators could see on both sides of the bay began at 8 p.m. When creating the "fire shows", the most advanced pyrotechnic technologies in the region were used, and the fireworks themselves were more diverse and lengthy compared to previous years. The sponsor of the "Fireworks Festival" was a group of companies Al Zarooni.
CARNIVAL STEPS AND STREET REPRESENTATIONS
Colorful carnival processions organized by Tatyana Entertainment, led by our compatriot Tatyana Frederick, took place throughout the Dubai Trade Festival-2008, while if 150 actors were involved in different venues on weekdays, then on weekends the audience could see at the same time up to 300 performers in one place. I must say that Tatyana Frederick is one of the first enthusiasts of such a phenomenon as the Dubai Trade Festival, and the main initiator of the participation in it of artists from various parts of our vast Motherland. Both children and adults from many cities of Russia participate in shows and performances sponsored and produced by her company throughout all 12 festival years. Moreover, many perform at the Dubai festivals as whole family dynasties, leading the second and even third generations of "festival" actors to the stage.
For carnival processions, four mobile platforms were equipped, decorated in various topics - Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Chinese using the characteristic national design elements. So, the Arab platform was decorated with "carpeted aircraft", the figure of Aladdin, camels and sand dunes. The design of the Russian scene, which was performed by Russian dancers, also used traditional motifs. The Chinese platform could be recognized by traditional Chinese lanterns, girls with umbrellas and Chinese warriors. The Japanese platform was distinguished by an abundance of flowers and white cranes, which, as you know, symbolize peace and harmony.
Carnival processions took place in different parts of the city: on Al Murakkabat and Al Sif streets, in Creek Park, in the areas of Dubai Marina and Arabian Ranches, in the "World Village", as well as in Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Knowledge Village In addition to “our” artists of all ages, tanuro dancers, African artists, Indian folk groups, equilibrists on stilts, clowns, jugglers, as well as actors from Turkey, Serbia and Senegal took part in them. Music from different countries and bright shiny costumes attracted a huge number of spectators, and even the most serious of them danced to the songs of Verka Serdyuchka's incendiary songs.
THE WHOLE WORLD IS ONE VILLAGE
One of the most attractive and popular places for tourists during the DTF was and remains the "Global Village" (Global Village). Global Village is a huge territory, which in the very near future will become part of the grand Dubai project Dubailand. More than four dozen countries erected their pavilions in the "Village", inside which the atmosphere of each particular country was recreated, dishes of national cuisine were offered, folk crafts were demonstrated and a wide variety of crafts and goods were sold - from wooden sculptures from Africa to crystal from Czech Republic, tapestries from Egypt , spices from Yemen, silver products and carpets from Iran, exotic oils from Thailand and embroidered pashmina from India. An amusement park and sports grounds, restaurants, a mini hippodrome and, even, a go-kart center, were created here. Every evening, fireworks bloomed over the village, music and multilingual speech sounded from everywhere.
The closing ceremony of the Dubai Trade Festival 2008 was held on February 24, 2008. It was very beautiful and a little sorry that the festival came to an end. Prizes and gifts were handed out, purchases made, discounts ended ... Every year from February to March, Dubai gives its residents and guests a little miracle in everyday life, calling it a festival. See you in Dubai next year.
The article uses materials from the Department of Tourism and Commercial Marketing of the Government of Dubai.
