The festival has begun. The Dubai Shopping Festival starts today with celebrations unleashing a frenzy of 45 days of shopping, entertainment and lucky draws.
Starting with mall-wide sales and promotions coupled with various events and activities happening throughout the city, the 45 days of nonstop fun will begin today and end on February 20, making it the longest festival season in Dubai.
Lined up over the next two months are 10 other festivals such as Dubai Balloon Festival and Food Festival, as well as various other exhibitions and conferences, making it a festival among festivals.
From today all major shopping malls in Dubai will play host to special offers and discount sales coupled with raffle draws offering attractive prices, promising to turn the lucky participants into overnight millionaires.
Damac yesterday announced the largest promotion worth more than Dh87 mil lion during the shopping festival. One lucky customer among the first 700 property buyers during the DSF will get an opportunity to win a jet plane worth Dh5.5 million.
The company has also promised a Jaguar to every customer who buys Damac property during the period.
The key mega raffle draws during this year's festival are the daily Lexus mega raffle and the daily gold rush and other offers and raffles by main sponsors.
Priced at Dh200 each, the sale of Lexus tickets is already under way and one lucky winner out of every 5,000 tickets sold daily will get an opportunity to walk away with two luxurious Lexus cars, an LX470 and an ES350 in addition to Dh100,000 cash.
The daily grand Nissan raffle offers a car every day for the 45-day run of the festival. Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group is offering one kilogram of gold every day for every raffle coupon obtained on Dh500 worth of jewellery purchased. The raffle draws will be aired live on Sama Dubai TV.
With participation from 39 pavilions and a remarkable line-up of events, this year's Global Village, based on the theme 'Redefining the World', promises to be a fascinating potpourri of various cultures of the world.
Among the festivals that form part of the shopping festival are Dubai Balloon Festival, World Cultures Festival, Art and Cultural festival, Musical Festival, Carnival Festival, Sports Festival and Food Festival.
With more than 40 hot-air balloons taking off simultaneously at 3.30pm from Dubai Outlet City in Dubailand and another 18 balloons participating in the Night Glow Spectacle at Creek Park, the Dubai Balloon Festival is a perfect beginning to the shopping festival.
Organisers expect a good response from shoppers around the world.
© Emirates Today 2006
