Dubai: Organisers of the 19th Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) this year promise to bring a DSF experience that not only ups the ante on shopping bargains but also sets a more interactive and inclusive festival for all.
If you happen to be at The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates or Dubai Festival City Mall on DSF’s opening day on Thursday (January 2), you better brush up on your general DSF knowledge as you might be chosen by Sama Dubai TV and radio presenters to answer on-the-spot questions to win up to Dh500,000 worth of prizes.
This new start is part of DSF’s way of bringing a new experience to visitors and reaching wider audiences, Laila Suhail, CEO, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said.
“The over 150 DSF attractions are being spread far and wide across the city at key DSF destinations, such as Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard, Al Seef Street, Al Rigga Street and The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, aimed at ensuring that residents and visitors in all nooks and corners of the city are able to participate and experience the festivities,” Laila told Gulf News.
She said this year’s focus remains on families and communities from different cultural backgrounds, with the fashion and entertainment sector figuring prominently on this year’s calendar.
“For the first time a series of fashion events will be held during DSF that will help reinforce Dubai’s position as a world-class fashion hub. We also have the DSF Carnival, the biggest in the history of DSF,” she said.
Focus on communities
The fashion calendar includes the Market Outside the Box for alternative non-mass produced sustainable fashion and lifestyle brands and the IT Closet for virtual trials of different fashion brands, among others.
For fashionistas don’t be surprised if a ‘fashion squad’ stops you while shopping. The tickets they will issue will entitle you to enter fashion competitions in various locations in Dubai.
The 32-day festival is also giving away more than $27 million (Dh99 million) worth of prizes including 96 Infiniti and Nissan cars, gold and cash.
The Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DGJG), which will give away a kilo of gold and a diamond solitaire ring daily to a lucky shopper, said they lowered the minimum spend to Dh500 this year to give everyone a chance in the raffle.
“We felt we needed to accommodate everyone in the raffle promo — even workers from the low-income segments of the population. Not everyone could afford last year’s Dh1,500 minimum spend so we thought of lowering it,” Tomy Joseph, DGJG general manager, told Gulf News.
DSF is also branching out to community malls and mid-size shopping centres in the city this year to give shoppers a chance to win Dh500,000 on the last day of DSF on February 2 against a minimum spend of Dh200 for the Shop&Win promo.
