A full guide on the Dubai Food Festival 2017

Dubai Food Festival is the only citywide food festival in the Middle East. The annual event celebrates Dubai’s growth as a gastronomic city. The festival offers a calendar of exciting food-related events and promotions, highlighting Dubai’s unique food scene.

The top events to look forward to this Dubai Food Festival are:

1.       Etisalat Beach Canteen
2.       Miele Dubai Restaurant Week
3.       Taste of Dubai
4.       Eat the World DXB

Dubai Food Festival 2017 will take place from February 23 to March 11 2017.

A dining and entertainment beach hot spot with tons of food trucks. A line-up that includes celebrity chefs, home-grown restaurant concepts and fantastic family-friendly activities. In addition to delicious food, expect amazing experiences including entertainment ranging from fitness classes, beach football and open mic nights to farmers’ markets, children’s play areas and beach cinema.

This years Al Islami’s kitchen demo stage will welcome international and local greats. With a full weekly programme Including cooking demos, fun cooking competitions and even masterclasses.

Etisalat Beach Canteen is open from February 23 to March 11

It is open from 12pm to 10pm on Weekdays and from 10am to 10pm on Friday and Saturday

Etisalat Beach Canteen at Sunset Beach behind Sunset Mall

Entrance is free

Parking is available, but it definitely will be a hassle, since spots are limited.

Tip: Park in Sunset Mall and walk for 2 minutes to get to the Beach Canteen.

Etisalat Beach Canteen is a free community festival, suitable for all ages, and with no tickets or pre-registration required.

Fitness classes on the beach
Make sure you burn off everything you eat by taking part in the beach fitness classes. The Beach Canteen will offer a series of daily fitness classes throughout the 17 days, including workouts like high-intensity STRONG by Arwa TM, energetic Zumba, and mellow forms of yoga by the Art of Living.

Kids
Etisalat Beach Canteen is a special space for kids of all ages. Families will love to bring their children for a day out by the beach, where there’s no shortage of activities and food.

Market Day
Every Saturday, Market Day takes place at the beach, where you can shop from the region’s emerging designers and artisans.

The Big Dig
The Big Dig is a family friendly activity featuring a fun treasure hunt on the beach where you can dig deep into the sand and win fantastic prizes. 

Tuesday Talent
Every Tuesday Dubai’s best talent will be showcased, including dance acts to acrobats, the performances will blow you away!

Dubai Sky Carnival
Watch the sky turn into a colourful art masterpiece with the Dubai Sky Carnival bringing you a festival of kites down at the beach.

Art
Etisalat Beach Canteen will present open air paint sessions and art installations curated by Mont8.

Dubai Restaurant Week is an annual citywide culinary celebration that offers an exclusive dining promotion at Dubai’s top fine dining restaurants. Miele Dubai Restaurant Week will see 15 of Dubai’s luxury restaurants offer an exclusive, limited edition three-course set menu, giving food-lovers a chance to enjoy fine dining for an exceptional price for a select time only.

Dubai Restaurant Week begins on February 23 and ends on March 4, 2017 and Bookings are available for either a 7.30pm or a 9.30pm slot.

The limited edition three-course set menu cost Dh199 per person

You have to visit Round Menu to choose the restaurant you want to dine at. You will also be able to tell which ones are fully booked or selling out quickly.

All restaurants are offering an appetizer, main courses and dessert. Beverages are not included, so make sure you budget for that. You can look at the menus for each restaurant here

A dining and entertainment hot spot with a line-up that includes celebrity chefs, home-grown restaurant concepts and family-friendly activities. In addition to Dubai’s top restaurants offering delicious food, there will also be entertainment ranging from fitness classes, beach football and open mic nights to farmers’ markets, children’s play areas and beach cinema.

Taste of Dubai is going on from March 9 to 11.

Dubai Media City Amphitheatre

There is ample parking all around media city, especially on weekends.

Entrance is Dh75 per person if you buy tickets online, Dh90 if you buy them at the door

Taste of Dubai is a community event, suitable for all ages.

22 restaurants are participating. These include:

1.      Aubaine

2.      Abyat

3.      Big Easy Bar & Grill

4.      Burger & Lobster

5.      Carluccios

6.      Carnival by Tresind

7.      Catch

8.      Cook Hall

9.      Cucina

10.    Fratelli La Bufala

11.    GRK Fresh Greek

12.    J&G Steakhouse

13.    Lucky Voice

14.    Namu

15.    Olea

16.    Ramusake

17.    Royal Orchid

18.    Sonamu

19.    Spice & Ice

20.    Teatro

21.    The Gramercy

22.    Weslodge

This is Taste of Dubai’s 10 year anniversary, so expect a great line up of cooking demos, activities and sumptuous food.  

Celebrity chefs include: Reza Mahammad, Luke Thomas, Gary Rhodes, Aldo Zilli, Eric Lanlard, Michel Roux Jr., Mohammad Orfali, Tarek Ibrahim, Jenny Morris and Joshua Stanzl.

Electrolux Chefs include: Tim Anderson, Paolo Pettenuzzo and Zahra Abdalla

Restaurant Chefs include: Daniel Ferreira, Jihun Maxime Kim, Darren Hall, Omar Omara and Mohamed Jamal Al Din.

A street food truck event, where 25 international street food stars participate. This year the food trucks are being flown in from the UK, the USA and Singapore. There will also be some UAE home grown street food trucks participating at the event.

Taste of Dubai is going on from February 23 to 25. Thursday from 5pm to 11pm, Friday from 12pm to 11pm and Saturday from 12pm to 11pm

Burj Park, Downtown Dubai

Your best bet would be to park in Parking 2 of Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard. You could also park in Dubai Mall and walk over to Burj Park.

Ticket Prices are Dh40 in advance and Dh50 at the door. Children under 12 go free (must be accompanied by an adult).

Eat the World DXB is a community event, suitable for all ages.

1.     Churros Bros
2.     Crabbie Shack
3.     Donostia Social club
4.     Made of Dough
5.     BRITISH CREW - The Bell & Brisket
6.     The Bell & Brisket
7.     The Cheeky Italian
8.     The Cheese Truck
9.     The Crema Caravan
10.   The Other Side
11.   The Roadery
12.   Bjorn Shen
13.   Chef Shen Tan
14.   Kerbside Gourmet
15.   Makan Makan
16.   Popiah
17.   FrostBite IceCream
18.   Raw Coffee Company
19.   Tandem
20.   Taqado Mexican Kitchen (UAE Luchadores)
21.   Yumtingz
22.   Endless Summer Sweets
23.   La Cocina
24.   Maxcel Hardy
25.   Sabores del Sur
26.   Sushi And Seoul
27.   Syrena Johnson
28.   The Peached Tortilla

For more information on all of the events, visit www.dubaifoodfestival.com