Dubai Shopping Festival [DSF] (Layali Dubai)

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Dubai Shopping Festival [DSF] Logo The Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), known in Arabic as 'Layali Dubai', was first started in February 1996 by the Dubai government as purely a retail event aimed to promote trade in Dubai. Since then it has become an annual shopping, entertainment, and cultural extravaganza that continues to promote tourism in Dubai and draws people from around the world each year.

The festival shopping event lasts for one month and its Dubai Shopping Festival [DSF] Logo and Slogan slogan is 'One Family, One World, One Festival', but the festival is also called 'Where the celebrations last a month and the memories, a lifetime' and 'The world's best brands at the world's lowest prices'. Due to the continous success of the DSF, a number of the world's best brands have labeled Dubai, the shopping capital of the Middle East.

The Global Village
During the Dubai Shopping Festival exciting activities for the entire family go on throughout the various areas of Dubai. Dubai Shopping Festival [DSF] Global Village Logo The main focal point of the festival is the Global Village, as it is where the international community gather together to display their culture and heritage through exhibitions of traditional handicrafts, clothing, music, and dance. It has been hosted near the Garhood Bridge for a number of years, but has moved to its permenant place in Dubai Land, in time for the Dubai Shopping Festival 2005. This new location is said to be more ideally positioned, as it is intended to be easily accessible to people who would be visiting from the nearby emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. It is open daily from 4pm to midnight during the shopping festival and for a location map of its new location on Emirates Road, click here.

Carpet Oasis
One of the popular shopping spots during the Dubai Shopping Festival is the Carpet Oasis. The exhibition showcases thousands of unique, exclusive, handmade, oriental and persian carpets and rugs from around the globe, all under one roof. The Carpet Oasis also offers visitors a large collection of antique souvenirs and is regularly hosted at the Dubai Airport Expo, but is hosted at the Dubai World Trade Center for the DSF 2005.

Shopping and Accomodations
Other popular shopping areas include all the 40+ Dubai shopping malls and if you are interested in bargaining for prices, than the souqs (tradition open air markets) are the right place for you. Over 2,300 retail outlets participate in the Dubai Shopping Festival, offering goods and services ranging from gold, jewellery, electronics, cars, cosmetics, textiles, and handicrafts, at big cash discounts. Travel and tourism companies also offer discounted flights and excursions for those wishing to visit Dubai during the festival. Over 300 hotels in Dubai also participate in the festival by offering deals for hotel accomodations.

Entertainment
Along with all of the shopping outlets, the Dubai Shopping Festival offers a variety of entertainment events, many of which are hosted at the various Dubai public parks. The most popular of these entertainment events include the nightly fireworks, laser/light shows, fashion shows, and music concerts. Some of the most famous Arabic entertainers come and perform during the festival, including Kazim Al Sahir, Nawal Al Zugby, Amr Diab, Milhim Barakat, Asala, Fadl Shaker, Najwa Karam, and Diana Haddad. Another popular event which began in DSF 2003, is the three-day Dubai International Jazz Festival.

Raffles and Awards
The festival also has daily raffle draws, with prizes of money, gold, Lexus cars, or Nissan Patrols. Some of these raffle draw require that you purchase a raffle ticket or else a raffle coupon is given for free after a customer purchases a minimum of gold or dirhams worth of goods at participating outlets. In addition to the raffles, the DSF has started an award ceremony for the Ideal Arab Mother and Ideal Family Awards, where the winnings will receive a prize of US$ 10,000.

Many multi-national companies like Visa and Pepsi sponsor the Dubai Shopping Festival. Emirates Airlines also is a key sponsor of the event, being the official carrier offering discount fares and extra baggage allowance. The festival is a co-operation between the public (government) and private sector of Dubai.

During the Dubai Shopping Festival, visas are easily obtainable at the Dubai International Airport, but most of the visa requirements are still applicable. The DSF has been yearly scheduled from January to February, in order to coincide with the Dubai Desert Classic (golf) and the Dubai World Cup (horse racing).

The Dubai Shopping Festival 2006 will be running from the 20th of December 2006 to 2nd of February 2007. For more information about the Dubai Shopping Festival and its activities, call Ahlan Dubai at +971 600545555.

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, site, mydsf, layali, fastival, fistival, shoping, fest, festivals, Kazem El Saher, Nawal El Zoghbi, zoghby, zoughbi, zoughby, alzoghbi, alzughbi, elzoghby, ezoughbi, ezoghbi, Amr Diab, amro, Melhem Barakat, Assalah, assala, asalh, Fadl Shaker. Najwa Karam, Diana Hadad.On February 15, 1996, the travel industry in the Middle East heralded the beginning of a new dawn – the birth of the most impressive shopping cum entertainment mega event. An entirely new concept, it succeeded brilliantly in showcasing what co-operation between private sector and public sector could do to create a mind-boggling achievement. Initially, Dubai Shopping Festival was conceived as a pure retail event, the primary aim of which was to revitalise the retail trade in Dubai. It was later developed into a comprehensive tourism product in line with Dubai’s far-sighted stance to set global standards in every field.Along the lines of the stature that Dubai has achieved with its clarity of vision, innovation, initiative and drive, the Festival was shaped under the committed leadership of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister. As months of preparations went into creating Dubai Shopping Festival, the shopping festival matured into a major retailing cum entertainment extravaganza. The rest is history.
Today, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the event is the tourism sector. Hotels, travel agents and tour operators contribute to the selling of the event worldwide and it would be fair to assume, run at the peak levels of operation during the event.
Every year, Dubai Shopping Festival lives up to its promise of staging the most exciting activities for the whole family inspired by the theme One World, One Family, One Festival. As universal brotherhood, happiness, excitement, joy and adventure became the signature trademarks of Dubai Shopping Festival, the Festival itself became a tribute to the inherent ambition and strength of the people of the United Arab Emirates. Local and multinational brands acknowledged their faith in the event, and brands like Visa, Pepsi and Emirates Airlines became partners to DSF’s growth.
The experience gained over the years during DSF will be of immense benefit during the 10th DSF, which is scheduled to be organised from January 12, 2005 to February 12, 2005 under the same theme – One World, One Family, One Festival. The next DSF will witness fresh creative inputs and innovative promotions that will go a long way in attracting more visitors to the Emirate.