A quick guide to Dubai Shopping Festival 2024
The festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year…
This year, Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) is celebrating the big 3-0. It begins on Friday, December 6, 2024, and will run until January 12, 2025. That’s 38 days packed with shopping, deals, entertainment and chances to walk home with many prizes.
Here’s what to expect over Dubai Shopping Festival 2025
DSF Opening Week
DSF will be opening with several events taking place across Dubai, including Hatta.
We can expect a DSF drone show at Bluewaters and The Beach, JBR (see below) and Dubai Lights will be making its return at four iconic venues in Dubai: Al Seef, Bluewaters, Dubai Design District, and Al Marmoon. Each neighbourhood will be lit up with different light installations based on different themes: earth, water, air, and light.
If you miss the drone show on opening night, don’t worry. The show will take place for the entirety of the festival. There will be two drone shows daily at 8pm and 10pm. Each drone show uses a whopping 1,000 drones – so it’s going to look spectacular. Get those phones charged and ready…
There will be an all-new pyro-drones show that will take place on December 13 at The Beach, JBR. Expect a dazzling pyrotechnic display with skydive stunts against the backdrop of Ain Dubai. You’ll be able to catch it at 8pm. Read more here.
Love fireworks? DSF is celebrating its anniversary with daily fireworks shows held twice daily at Dubai Festival City Mall. You can also catch a special IMAGINE show while you’re there. Dubai Festival City will also showcase the talents of local and regional artists, and for little ones there will be Spacetoon shows. Don’t forget to check out The Bay by Social.
Fireworks also take place at Hatta every Friday and Saturday over the festival. But fireworks is not the only reason to head to Hatta over DSF. Your escape to the mountains will include live music, family-friendly entertainment, and delicious spots to tuck into some grub.
And… what’s new this DSF?
Want to check out something new? For this edition, DSF is introducing DSF Auto Season. The city will be home to citywide activations showcasing some of the top supercars and bikes there are. The line-up of events include a 24-hour race (Michelin 24h Dubai), a super car parade, auctions, and a motor show. Motorheads are sure to love this…
Hello, outdoor markets
With DSF come some wonderful outdoor markets, including Market OTB (Market Outside the Box) and CanteenX at Mushrif Park.
E& MOTB will run from January 3 to 12, 2025 and will feature global brand activations, performances, interactive entertainment and of course, delicious food and drinks options and retail offerings from homegrown heroes. And the retro-themed space is sure to make it on your ‘Gram. You will be able to find it at the ever-cool Dubai Design District.
CanteenX is returning for a second edition after its launch last year, under a new theme with new homegrown heroes. There will be four different zones to explore plus live entertainment at the stage.
For another experience outside of the city limits, Al Marmoom will be home to The Uncommon from December 20, 2024 to January 12, 2025. The space will be free for all to visit and you can expect a cosy setup by the lake, an outdoor cinema and a menu designed specially for the event.
Shop til’ you drop
And of course, it can’t be a shopping festival without the shopping. Over DSF, shoppers can expect an unending range of deals and discounts across a range of items from fashion to jewellery, beauty, health, furniture, electronics, homeware, and so much more.
And don’t forget, you have the chance to take home some mega prizes. And by mega, we mean prizes like cars and Dhs100,000 in cash (cha-ching!).
Dance the night away…
It can’t be a festival in Dubai without some A-listers. And over DSF this edition, you can expect some top-notch events set against the backdrop of the city’s iconic destinations.
We already know of some megastars heading to Dubai to perform including Ricky Martin, Lionel Richie and 30 Seconds to Mars. For music festivals, SOLE DXB brags a vibe like no other and is one you don’t want to miss.
Stay up to date with the latest from Dubai Shopping Festival at @DubaiFestivals and of course, stay tuned to whatson.ae as we are keeping our eyes open for more details on some of the top things to do this DSF.
Images: Archive, Instagram and Unsplash
