EL APORTE HACIA LA INCLUSIÓN DE LA DIVERSIDAD RELIGIOSA EN EL DISCURSO

W H AT F O L L O W S I S A L I S T O F A L L O F T H E R E G U L A R E V E N T S that appear on the Dubai social calendar, listed month by month. You’ll notice a concentration during the winter months (October–April), as many of these events take place outside. For one-off events – concerts, sporting matches and exhibitions – do check on the Web sites listed earlier in this chapter before your visit, as these are many, and they tend to be announced quite close to the actual date. In terms of tick-eting, things rarely sell out here, but to get the best prices and decent seats, it’s worth booking in advance. The Time Out tickets Web site (timeouttickets.com) is the best source.

January

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RACING CARNIVAL Racing events are held

every Thursday and Friday until the beginning of March at the state-of-the-art Meydan Racecourse. Admission is free, but unless you want to be in the bear pit or hungry all night, we’d suggest spending the AED 50 on a seat or making an evening of it and dining in one of the hotel’s buffet restaurants, from AED 600 per head. Visit dubai racingclub.com for details.

DUBAI MARATHON You might not make it round the track faster than three-time winner Haile Gebrselassie, but the course, which takes you around Beach Road and Media City, is a great one, for runners and spectators. There is also a 10-kilometre run and 3-kilometre fun run.

To register, visit dubaimarathon.org.

DUBAI SHOPPING FESTIVAL Otherwise known as the January sales,

the DSF is homage to all things capitalist in a city that was born to shop. It runs from around the middle of January for six weeks, and most malls host special events, grand raffles, concerts by international stars, funfairs and even outdoor desert camps for families. For more information, visit mydsf.com.

February

THE DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC Some of the world’s top golfers slog it out on the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club in this European PGA Tour golf tournament. Go to dubaidesertclassic.com.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Held in Dubai Media City,

this jazz fest usually manages to punch way above its weight in terms of the talent it attracts, with major international names perform-ing in the open air over seven days. There is also a free programme

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of concerts from up-and-coming stars. Visit dubaijazzfest.com for more details.

DUBAI PET SHOW Despite – or perhaps because of – being a distinctly pet-unfriendly city, Dubai hosts an annual Dubai Pet Show at Festival City, which is a big draw for families. OK, it’s not exactly Crufts, but who can resist a dog in clothes? Not us. For more information, visit dubaipetshow.com.

DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Tucked behind Dubai’s largest theme pub – the Irish Village – the Dubai Tennis Stadium hosts two weeks of world-class tennis every year in February. This is one event that does sell out, so book your tickets on barclaysdubaitennischampionships.

com in advance.

March

ART DUBAI One of the biggest international art fairs in the Middle East brings together art from all over the world for a week-long pro-gramme of talks, exhibitions and events. Collectors, artists and the general public converge at the Madinat Jumeirah, where more than 70 galleries show work, but viewings and exhibitions are all over the city. Check out artdubai.ae.

BASTAKIYA ART FAIR Held alongside Art Dubai, Bastakiya Art Fair features works from up-and-coming local artists, exhibited in the historic Bastakiya district. The doors of all the houses are thrown open, and every spare space is filled with the art of the Arab world.

www.bastakiyaartfair.com

CARTIER POLO VIP tickets for this gorgeous event at the Dubai Desert Palm hotel are like gold dust, so all but the most determined are likely to go without. However, for the past few years, the hotel has run a parallel event on the other side of the pitch – it’s not quite Cartier jew-els and A-listers, but for a fixed price you get to watch the matches, chow down on a barbecue and prop up the bar in the sunshine all day.

Check desertpalm.peraquum.com for the date and more details.

DUBAI FOOTBALL SEVENS International teams compete at this

three-day event, a relative newcomer with a carnival atmosphere.

dubaifootball7s.com

DUBAI WORLD CUP The world’s richest horse race is the king of spec-tacles in a city that is not short of such things. People fly from all over the world to sit trackside at the Meydan Racecourse in their finery (do not even consider dressing down), sip Champagne in the Bubble Lounge and – if we’re honest – all but ignore the horses. This giant trackside party is topped off with a concert from a big-name star.

Visit dubaiworldcup.com for tickets and hospitality packages.

EMIRATES LITERARY FESTIVAL A stellar line-up of more than 80

authors is always at this world-class literary event. The packed four-day programme includes panel discussions, readings, workshops,

children’s events and storytelling workshops. There is also a Fringe Festival with a programme of free events. Visit eaifl.com to see the programme and book tickets.

PERRIER CHILL OUT FESTIVAL This annual event is prone to changing venue but attracts great international bands and DJs with a chilled-out vibe over a weekend. Check Time Out for details (timeoutdubai.com).

TASTE OF DUBAI The Media City amphitheatre hosts this foodie

event, which runs over four days. Dubai’s best restaurants and bars set up stalls around relaxed outdoor seating and cook samplers of their signature dishes for a knock-down price.

April

GULF FILM FESTIVAL This festival celebrates Arabic and international films – even better, the programme of screenings and events is open to the public. It’s especially interesting if you’re keen to see Emirati-made films. gulffilmfest.com

May

DHOW RACING The Dubai International Marine Club hosts a series of traditional dhow boat races just off the coast. dimc.ae

June

DUBAI SUMMER SURPRISES Otherwise known as the summer sales,

it usually starts around the first week of June and ends mid-August.

All of the malls put on a special programme of events and giveaways, and Modesh – the very odd, yellow, springlike cartoon character that is the event’s official mascot – pops up around the city. The last week or so of the sale, prices are usually slashed, sometimes dropping to 20% of the original ticket price. Visit mydsf.ae.

August

HOPFEST The Irish Village pub hosts an annual beer festival for three days in August in a large, air-conditioned marquee on the lawn, with cask ales, live music and food every night. irishvillage.ae

October

GITEX The Middle East’s premier technology show takes over the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre. gitex.com

November

DUBAI RUGBY SEVENS It feels as if the whole city descends on this stadium for three days to cheer on the country’s team – festivities go on well past the end of play, with bands, beer tents and dancing.

dubairugby7s.com

December

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Such is the growing reputation of this festival that it has attracted A-listers such as Christina Ricci

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and Gerard Butler. The general public are able to buy tickets for many of the screenings. dubaifilmfest.com

U.A.E. NATIONAL DAY Take a seat at any cafe on Jumeirah Beach Road on 2 December and watch the procession of proud Emiratis with pimped-up cars fly the flag – one giant Hummer makes an appearance every year, entirely covered in Swarovski crystals in the U.A.E. colours.

P A R T T H R E E

H O T E L S

T H I S C I T Y I S D E F I N I T E LY N O T S H O RT O F H O T E L S. In typical Dubai style, it is impossible to give you an accurate count of the num-ber of rooms on offer across the emirate, as hotels open at the rate of one monolith a month. But to give you some idea of the scale, there were 47,000 hotel rooms in 2008, with plans to triple that to 141,000 rooms by 2015. In 2010 alone, more than 20,000 additional rooms, ranging from iconic to airport, five-star to frills-free, were expected to throw open their doors.

Despite the global recession, many major hotels have ploughed on with their plans, so 2010–2012 will be bumper years for new launches.

The ring around the Palm Jumeirah will see the opening of the Rixos, Essque Hotel & Spa, The Royal Amwaj, The Fairmont, The Oceana and The Taj Exotica. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) will be home to a brand-new Ritz-Carlton, only the second hotel to open in the middle of this business district. Because Dubai is already a haven for label lovers, top catwalk designers were quick to spot the potential of having their brands attached to hotels. The Armani Hotel

& Residences, where everything from the carpets to the candles was designed by the maestro, opened at the bottom of the Burj Khalifa in 2010. The Gucci group has announced that it has plans to open an 87-suite hotel in Dubai’s Media City in 2011, which should provide some fairly stiff competition for the Palazzo Versace, which is already under construction.

Sadly, news of the refurbishment of the QE2, which was to be a luxurious floating hotel just off the Palm Jumeirah, is hard to come by. Although the assumption is that, after spending £65 million (about US $102.4 million) buying the behemoth and sailing it to Dubai, the owners will eventually start work, it currently sits unoc-cupied in Port Rashid. There has also been little news of the W Hotel that was to open in Festival City, the hoardings quietly taken down when nobody was looking. New budget hotels are not thin on the ground either, with easyHotel and Courtyard by Marriott opening

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new ventures. At press time, no fixed dates were available for any of these, but the canny traveller can keep an eye on announcements in the trade magazine Hotelier Middle East (hoteliermiddleeast.com).

This runs up-to-date news on soft launches, when huge discounts on rack rates are often available, as long as you are willing to put up with a few teething troubles.

Of course, the cynical might doubt whether there will be enough people to fill all these four-posters, but ye of little faith just need to look at the current occupancy rates. During the first four months of 2010, Dubai witnessed occupancy of 77.4% across the board. The most popular tourist hotels were fully booked. Even the summer, with its scorching temperatures, still attracts visitors in droves, with discount hotel rates and packages.