Dubai: Foodies it’s time to celebrate.
Your gastronomical fantasies are set to come true during the first Dubai Food Festival beginning on Friday.
Organised by the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), the 23-day festival aims to demonstrate the range of flavours prevalent in Dubai, a blend of Arabic traditions and those of the more than 200 nationalities living in the emirate.
“The inaugural Dubai Food Festival will provide a platform for the DTCM and our partners in the hospitality and restaurant sectors to demonstrate the emirate’s credentials as a leading gastronomy destination,” Helal Saeed Al Merri, director-general, DTCM, said.
“The quality and range of our culinary offering is something that will increasingly be used as a tourism driver and through the Dubai Food Festival we will demonstrate the variety of offer that exists across the Emirate, including world-class international brands, homegrown restaurants, and high quality street-food,” he added.
Laila Mohammad Suhail, CEO of DFRE, said the agency received an overwhelming response from stakeholders of Dubai’s food industry to participate in the festival.
“The Dubai Food Festival programme has been designed with all tastes in mind. From family-friendly consumer events to more industry-focused forums and conferences, both residents and visitors can look forward to a Dubai Food Festival that is as exciting and inclusive as it is delicious.”
City-wife events will feature the Dubai Food Carnival, Gulfood, the Taste of Dubai, the Grand Kerala Festival, the Taste of Peru, and the Global Restaurant Investment Forum, among others.
More than 26 celebrity chefs from around the world will descend on Dubai to join the celebration. Among them are French Chef, Jean Christophe Novelli; Australian power pair, Greg and Lucy Malouf; Queen of the Arabic Kitchen, Egyptian Chef, Manal Al Alem; Lebanon’s Chef of the Year 2013, Maroun Chedid; and Indian TV personality, Sanjeev Kapoor.
