Dubai Shopping Festival: Big On Bargain

Whether it is incessant shopping or unending partying, DSF 2003 will have you screaming for more, says Raadia Mukadam

Dubai, the Gulf’s dessert rose is about to host the 7th Dubai Shopping Festival. After six successful shopping and entertainment extravaganzas, and after having globally established the repute of being a shopper’s haven, it is now ready to bewitch its fan following with new mantras added to its witchcraft.

DSF 2003 is ready to unveil a plethora of pulsating attractions that aim at dazzling audiences from all over the world, so if you thought the Dubai shopping festival was only about shopping, think again. With its theme of ‘One World One Family One Festival’, DSF will have something for one and all of its visitors. This month long affair of festivities brings with it incredible shopping opportunities, exciting live entertainment, exhilarating sports events, mind blowing promotions, astonishing prizes, fascinating encounters with world cultures round the clock. While there is much in store for the art or culturally inclined, the compulsive shopper will however be the most rewarded visitor of DSF 2003 with a variety of world renowned brands at bargain prices, offering goods and services that range from the latest in haute couture and perfumes to gold and jewellery, electronics, cosmetics, textiles and traditional handicrafts at astounding prices.

The Night Bazaar showcasing 3000 retail outlets will be the upcoming DSF’s greatest drawcard literally giving you the opportunity to shop till you drop. This round-the-clock arrangement will also give tourists the time to explore Dubai, basically optimising on your time without missing out on the excitement at DSF. What will draw larger crowds to this year’s DSF is the time of the year that it is being held. Moving the date to January will make it very conducive for tourists as they will experience the pleasant wintry weather and the mesmerising contrast of golden desert and pristine blue beaches coupled with DSF’s entertainment, arts, culture, heritage and sports calendar making DSF 2003 an ideal period to visit Dubai. Another ‘not miss’ is the lavish opening ceremony.

As you check the local newspapers for the day’s entertainment schedule and programme, the highlights of the festival remain the shopping bargains that have earned Dubai the label of ‘shopping paradise’. During DSF, the shopping deals come with a bonanza of prizes that will make some lucky shoppers ‘crorepatis’ overnight. All the wannabe millionaires must try their luck at the umpteen raffles for luxury cars, cash, gold and other big prizes that are valued at more than US $200,000 daily and a whopping $500,000 on every weekend of the festival. It would be a good idea to set aside a budget to try the different raffles alone, then cross your fingers and sit back. The Lexus Mega Raffle offers a daily three-in-one prize: a Lexus four-wheel drive, a Lexus luxury sedan and Dhs 200,000 (Rs 26 lakh) cash on each day of the 31-day festival. The daily prize is worth more than Rs 65 lakh. Tickets are priced at Dhs 200 (Rs 2,600) each, and only 5,000 tickets will be sold per draw. Shoppers have a chance to win a top-of-the range Nissan Patrol four-wheel drive (worth over Rs 20 lakh) in a shopping-linked promotion on each day of the festival. Gold shoppers buying jewellery worth Dhs 500 (Rs 6,500) could win one kilo of gold (worth Rs 4.5 lakh) every day and 10 kilos (worth Rs 45 lakh) on the final day as a result of a promotion conducted by the Dubai Gold and jewellery Group.

While you’re waiting for the stroke of lady luck or simply splurging, you could leave the kids fairly occupied choosing from the many available options including mega shows from a host of world’s most loved cartoon characters.

Hundreds of street performers and folk artistes from around the globe will brighten up DSF venues and participate in mega festival parades. Coming from Italy, France, Hungary, Columbia, India and Russia, these performers include jugglers, stilt-walkers, acrobats and clowns, performing side splitting bizarre acts, guaranteed to delight children. For some serious fun combined with learning, children can also go on guided tours to Children’s City, the region’s latest and most modern discovery centre, an exemplary model of edu-tainment. While children have an action packed schedule slated for them, adults have a host of events to look forward to. DSF will showcase concert performances by famous Arab singers like Hisham Abbas and Amr Diab every evening at Layali Dubai. This year’s annual event is the International Jazz Festival, gathering more than 80 renowned jazz artists and musicians.

With more than 50 countries participating, the Global Village - a cultural melting pot, is a unique experience with each country’s pavilion featuring a distinct historical landmark, genuine handicrafts, folk music, dances and cuisine from their homeland. World culture enthusiasts can feast on the famous Arabian Bedouin’s lifestyle at the Heritage and Diving Village through numerous heritage activities, folkloric performances, exhibitions, shopping at traditional souqs, the famous Gold Souq and indulging in the delectable local traditional cuisine. Dubai’s main streets are converted into symposiums for painters, craftsmen, sculptors, musicians and performing artistes allow you to revel in the rich diversity of art forms from different countries. For the sports enthusiasts, the endless miles of clean beaches are ideal for jet skiing, sailing, cruising, fishing, diving and wind surfing. Keen golfers can tee off at two of Dubai’s picturesque gold courses. Dune bashing, bowling, archery, desert camping, sand skiing and the thrilling desert safaris are some of the local adventure experiences that visitors can indulge in.

Fact File

• Visas can be obtained easily. The visa process has been largely simplified. A visit visa or a 96-hour visa can be obtained easily. Emirates passengers for the DSF can submit their visa applications to Blue Dart Offices across India and it will be processed in three days time
• Emirates Airilnes, the official carrier, and a key sponsor of the DSF, flies in visitors on discounted fares and offers extra baggage allowance
• Emirates has announced a special five-day holiday package for Indians. Priced at $599 per person, (airfare, accommodation, breakfast and Indian dinner, all transfers, sightseeing with professional tour leaders inclusive), it combines a visit to all the attractions of the DSF.