JULY 2
Gulshan Grover, Bollywood’s favourite villain, will visit the Gold Souk in Deira and check out Kanz Jewels showroom on July 2nd, at 6.30pm. Fans are invited.
Scene Club screens Entre Les Murs (The Class) at Dubai Knowledge Village, from 7pm, with actor Franck Keita. Book at sceneclub.com.
JULY 3
Thrive Industry night, Ibis Dubai World Trade Centre.
JULY 4
At the movies: Emma Watson casts off Hermione in The Bling Ring; Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha fall in love, 1950s-style, in Lootera.
Big Sean — known for ‘Dance’ and ‘My Last’ — performs at People by Crystal, Raffles Dubai. Call 050-2972097
Caboodle’s kids food festival with recipes, art and a nutritional talk (3-5pm). Dh120 per child. Call 04-3253367.
JULY 5
Red Bull BC ONE Cypher B-Boy championship, at Al Serkal Avenue, Dubai.
Shaggy performs at Cavalli Club, Dubai. Call 04-3329260.
United Nations of Comedy, part of Summerfest Abu Dhabi, features comedians Maz Jobrani, Aron Kader, Mike Batayeh and Nemr Abou Nassar, with special appearances by Mohamed Kamal, Omar Allouba and Hilal Bilal. The two-hour show, at the du Forum, Yas Island, begins at 8pm; tickets from Dh150 at summerfestabudhabi.ae. (Also July 4.)
Closing night of House of Afrika @ The Dek on 8, Media One Hotel, with Charl Chaka, Afroboogie, Just Lance, Simon B, Nthayi and Shaun Soomro.
Indoor flea market at Dubai World Trade Centre, Za’abeel Hall 2, 2-7pm; free entry.
JULY 6
As Dubai Summer Surprises wraps up, it’s the last day of Kids Fashion Week at Dubai Festival City Mall, with crowning of the Best Boy, Best Girl and the Best Interesting Personality.
Movida closes the season with RnB hip-hop night SUGA Saturday with resident DJs DJ Mitchell and DJ Nick Waters plus special DJ Junior. Call 04-3866844.
JULY 7
Last day for the Xtreme Festival at Mall of the Emirates, with stilt walkers, jugglers and acrobats performing at 4.30pm and 6pm and 8pm.
JULY 8
Bekas — a winner at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2012 — is screening at major cinemas this week. Don’t miss the tale of two Iraqi boys searching for Superman under the regime of Saddam Hussein. “This is not a hard-hitting film,” the Kurdish director Karzan Kader told tabloid! at Diff. “I have tried my best to make it an adventure.”
JULY 9
Ramadan Kareem! The holy month is due to start today.
JULY 10
SportFest Abu Dhabi starts its activities at du Forum on Yas Island, with weekly sporting events and master classes with sporting legends. It starts with the UAE’s world jiu-jitsu brown belt champion Faisal Al Ketbi and Mohammad Al Qubaisi (blue belt) showcasing the marital art in a two-day intermediate clinic. Entry to the two-hour sessions, 9-11pm, is open to over-12s. Tickets, Dh50, at abudhabi.duplays.com/summerfestabudhabi
Last chance to catch Modern Iraqi Art, an exhibition at Meem Gallery, Dubai.
JULY 11
At the movies: Farhan Akhtar puts his running shoes on to play the real-life runner Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. (Note: While Bollywood continues its releases during Ramadan, big Hollywood movies are put on hold until Eid.)
Summer Touch Rugby, an indoor summer touch rugby competition, kicks off at Dubai Sports World, taking place each Thursday from 8-11pm, with finals on 1 August. Want to play? Fill in form on the Promoseven Sports Marketing Facebook page.
JULY 12
Wild Wadi Waterpark starts its Ramadan nights sessions, open 10am-10pm every Friday and Saturday during Ramadan. Entry is Dh150 (Dh120 for children below 1.1m) for entry after 7pm.
JULY 13
British tennis champ Tim Henman serves up Racket Week at SportFest Abu Dhabi, open to over 14s only. The three-hour sessions (8-11pm) costs Dh50 per participant. Competitions will include men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
JULY 14
Learn to use that SLR camera with a week-long summer course at Pink Pepper Photography at The Dubai Mall. The courses have daytime and evening sessions throughout the month, Dh800 for school and college students, and Dh1,000 for adults. Call 04-4340437.
JULY 15
Use the shorter working hours to clear out that closet and give items to the needy. The UAE Red Crescent’s campaign with Comfort gives a bottle of softener for each donation, which can be made at booths from July 15-31 at Deira City Centre, Mall of the Emirates, Mirdif City Centre and Lamcy Plaza.
JULY 16
The first of three free ladies’ nights at SportFest Abu Dhabi focused on volleyball (Also July 23, basketball; July 30, football). Open to all women and male children under five (no child care services provided).
JULY 17
Iftar at Meydan IMAX and watch Journey to Mecca, a historical account of the holy pilgrimage by Ibn Battuta, on the eight-storey high screen. Call 800 IMAX.
JULY 18
At the movies:
Prabhu Deva remakes his Telugu blockbuster Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana in Hindi, with Tamil actress Shruti Haasan, titled Ramaya Vastavaiya. For Filipino film fans, Bea Alonzo and Angel Locsin star in 4 Sisters and A Wedding.
JULY 19
The 17th Dubai International Holy Quran Awards run until July 27 at Al Twar centre, with a Holy Quran memorisation contest and lectures on Islam. Free entry; call 04-2610666.
JULY 20
Last chance to the ‘Birth of a Museum’ exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat. There are 130 artworks from the Louvre Abu Dhabi permanent collection – some of which have never been exhibited before. Visit louvreabudhabi.ae
JULY 21
Plan a visit to the ninth edition of the Liwa Date Festival July 18-25, which takes place during Ramadan for the first time. Prizes totalling Dh5 million are up forgrabs. Open daily after iftar, 8pm-1am.
JULY 22
Visit Crossroads #12, a photographic exhibition by Bertram Kober, at Yas Viceroy hotel, Abu Dhabi, 10am-10pm.
JULY 23
Do a suhour at MusicHall, the Beirut institution now at Jumeriah Zabeel Saray, with live performances by artists from around the Arab world.
Minimum spend 95 AED per person excluding shisha. Call 056-2708670.
JULY 24
thejamjar collaborates with Adopt-a-Camp (also July 25) to assemble care packages to improve the lives of labourers at Dubai World Trade Centre. Volunteer time to put 300 tons of supplies into 5050 packages that will be distributed to the men at the labour camps in Sonapur. thejamjar will provide art stations for participants to create a colourful message on A4 labels for each box, raising funds for the Adopt-a-Camp scholarship programme. From noon-7pm.
Basketball star Robert “Big Shot Rob” Horry runs the men’s-only basketball festival at SportFest Abu Dhabi, open to over 14s only; Dh400 per team.
JULY 25
At the movies: Colin Firth and Emily Blunt find love in Arthur Newman.
Yas Waterworld holds Ladies Night every Thursday, 5-10pm; Dh200, children 3 years and under go free.
JULY 26
It’s ladies’ night at Iceland Water Park in Ras Al Khaimah, with music, games and prizes, entry restricted to women and boys under 8, 8pm-midnight. Dh99 per adult, Dh49 per child. Call 800 WOWRAK.
JULY 27
Catch Chromophobia, an exhibition with works by Jessica Mein and Abdel Kader Benchamma, at Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde. Ends July 28.
JULY 28
Get your jazz hands on with a four-day theatre camp from Hayley’s Comet Theatre Company, aimed at children and teenagers, 6-14 years, 9am-3pm each day, Dh650, plus a joining fee of Dh80. Email info@hayleyscomet.com.
JULY 29
A Verse Imprinted, an exhibition of Arabic calligraphy and illumination, at Ara Gallery, Downtown Dubai.
JULY 30
Last day to see The Arrangement, an exhibition by Amir H. Fallah with works in mixed media inspired by the Dutch/Flemish Renaissance floral style. At The Third Line gallery.
JULY 31
Footballer Andrew Cole wraps up SportFest Abu Dhabi (until August 3) with a men-only five-a-side football festival, nightly 9pm-1am, open to over 16s; Dh400 per team.
