UAE Events

The Abu Dhabi Jazz Festival, held annually at the Beach Rotana Hotel, returns with an extra day of music. Some of the best artists in the world take over the capital, sending it into a swinging frenzy

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A dozen bands sway on a stage overlooking the ocean and send out relaxed vibes to the ultra-chill audience. The line up in previous years featured the Afif Brothers Quartet, Abram Wilson, Anita Wardell and Larry Garner.

Held in Zayed City, the annual Al Dhafra Festival celebrates local customs, including singing shows, handicrafts and photography competitions, and best of all, a camel beauty pageant. A closing ceremony celebrates the best animal.

A panel of experts from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia judges the camel contest, which focuses on two specific races - the Asayel (pedigree) and Majahim (dark-skinned) camels, and it is open to anyone owning a disease-free animal.

The substantial prizes on offer range from cars to big money, reinforcing the high status camels have in traditional Arab life.

Horse racing fills Dubai's Nad Al Sheba Racecourse to the brim most Thursday and Friday evenings during the winter months. The season comprises the Winter Racing Challenge, the Dubai International Racing Carnival and the Dubai World Cup.

The WRC starts in November and ends in early March. Horses compete in 1.2km, 1.6km and 2km races and earn points according to finishing positions, winners taking Dh300,000 back to the stables.

The DIRC runs from the middle of January to the beginning of March and the prize money for these races surpasses the million dollar mark. Not surprisingly, some of the best horses in the world come to race for this prize. The season climaxes with the Dubai World Cup meeting, the world's richest race day, at the end of March. Horses speed towards the US$6 million prize, which was won in 2009 by American-trained Well Armed.

Money making is only for the horses as betting is illegal in the UAE, but spectators can participate in various games organised by the racecourse, such as Pick Seven, Tricast, Horseplay and the Car Raffle.

Join AC Milan, Arsenal, Olympiacos and other professional clubs, along with 3000 players and 300 amateur teams, at 7he Sevens for Dubai Football 7s. It's football like you've never seen it before say the organisers.

This festival of football brings together a massive cross-section of athletes, with Rush, Steve McManaman, Michael Thomas and a host of other stars lined up to play on the same pitches as eight-year-old wannabe footballers.

In addition to seeing the stars in action, there are competitions for various age groups and an amateur tournament, drawing both men and women players.

Hosted by a dozen international and award-winning photographers, the Gulf Photo Plus draws photography enthusiasts to Dubai Knowledge Village. There are more than 50 seminars, photography and video workshops to choose from and several special events to attend.

Guests in 2010 include fashion photographer Melissa Rodwell, award-winning photojournalist Steve Simon and Vincent Laforet, a Pulitzer Prize winner photographer and filmmaker. Some visiting artists display their latest work at the In the Blink of an Eye Photography Exhibition held at the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Center (28 February-14 March), while others take on the Shoot-Off challenge, involving a 30-minute live shoot in front of a large audience.

The Dubai Desert Rock started off as a three-hour show and has grown into a rock festival for true lovers of over the top rock. It brings some of the best local and international bands to Dubai Festival City.

Previously the show included the world´s first suspended Music Cocktail Bar with a 360 degree panoramic view from the counter and two champions of flair bartending able to serve 20 cocktails in a single bound.

DJs and light jockeys performed from the suspended bar, 50 meters in the air, and fire art shows, a cable slide, a skate park and an infusion dance tent were all part of the parcel.

Addressing social and environmental issues, Prix PICTET gathers a number of international photographers to capture the harmful and often irreversible effects caused by the exploitation of Earth's resources. Their works are exhibited at Dubai's Quarter Fine Art Photography Gallery.

A new theme every year attracts around 300 international candidates from five continents. Shortlisted artists in 2010 include Darren Almond and Chris Steele-Perkins from the UK, Naoya Hatakeyama from Japan and Canadian Christopher Anderson.

Dubai is currently the hot place to shop, and the best time for shopaholics is during the huge, sprawling Dubai Shopping Festival. Reductions are offered across a vast range of must-haves, from jewellery to fashion, electrical goods and carpets.

More than two million visitors attend the Dubai Shopping Festival each year, with retail spending totalling in excess of US$1 billion. Sponsored by Dubai Duty Free, the event is enlivened with international theatre and street performances, fashion shows, nightly fireworks and laser shows, prize draws (with booty such as Rolls Royces and gold), film festivals, children's events and handicraft shows.

The most atmospheric shopping is to be found in the souks, located on either side of Dubai Creek, where bargaining is part of the buzz. The Gold Souk at Sikkat al-Khali St is Dubai's most famous bazaar - here the narrow streets are lined with shop windows sparkling with bracelets, necklaces and earrings in 18-, 21-, and 22-carat gold, sold according to weight.

Although you're less likely to take fish home with you, the Fish Souk in Deira, where fishermen pile their gleaming catches high, is well worth a visit just for the spectacle. The Spice Souk (also known as Old Souk), on Al-Sabkha Road, smells sweeter - this is where bags bursting with exotic spices and colours are on display.

Dubai is a fantastic place to buy carpets, as traders from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan converge in this shopping haven, selling their wares for anything from a few hundred to thousands of dirhams. Other traditional goods include: Arabic coffee pots, swords and khanjars (Arabic curved daggers), prayer beads, marble goblets, silver Bedouin jewellery, cotton dhurries (oblong floor coverings) and inlaid rosewood and walnut furniture.

An exhibition by eight local photographers comes to Dubai Community Theatre

and Arts Centre. Sense of Sight portrays the effects of visual disturbance - either psychologically or through some form of visual impairment - through inspiring artistic output.

The project, in collaboration with Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai, raises awareness of common eye conditions and diseases and awards the winning artist AED10,000 in prize money.

Offering quality music and spectacular performances, the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival attracts more than 25,000 visitors every year. Since its first edition in 2002, the festival has been held at Dubai Media City.

Highlights of the 2009 program included Spyro Gyra, Dave Koz and Mike Stern. The line-up for 2010 is still taking shape.

Jamming sessions are held at nearby venues and there is an arts and crafts village.

The Dubai Desert Classic is held at the Emirates Golf Club, the first grass golf course in the Middle East. Its lush fairways are in stark contrast to the surrounding desert terrain, which provides the course with many natural hazards.

The PGA European Tour and its American counterpart, the PGA Tour, are the richest and most celebrated golfing competitions in the world.

For the European stars on the Tour there is more at stake than pure financial reward: the top 10 players are automatically selected for the European Team to play against the US in the Ryder Cup. Save winning one of the majors, competing in this competition is the pinnacle of a golfer's career.

Willy Russell's popular Blood Brothers, still running in London's West End after nearly 15 years, is on tour at the First Group Theatre in Dubai. The production stars a cast of West End actors complete with live orchestra.

The prolific Russell (of Educating Rita fame) set this splendid musical melodrama in 1950s Liverpool and it tells of twin brothers who are separated at birth, one adopted by a rich family, the other staying poor.

They grow up as friends, but can it last? The play is ambitious, the songs are very good and if you let yourself be carried away, it is an intense emotional experience.

With not only book and lyrics by Russell, but also music as well, Blood Brothers won Olivier, Plays and Players, Ivor Novello and Drama Magazine Awards for the London production and received a further seven Tony nominations on Broadway.

Guaranteed to have you standing and cheering at the end.

Dubai has the ideal weather and terrain for motorcycle fun. In light of this, the Gulf Bike Expo in Dubai's Festival City offers three days of exhibits, barbecues, music, shows and organised rides, all dedicated to motorcycles and their owners.

Sunny Dubai's wide roads and desert tracks cater to street bikes, scooters, dirt bikes and even quad bikes, which are just some of the vehicles featured at this expo. The biggest, baddest, newest and fastest motorbikes are on display, as well as clothing, helmets, parts, garage equipment and even insurance deals.

It's not all about shopping for the latest bikes however - Festival City also provides a barbecue pit for a quick refuel and live music while you munch, along with stunt riding shows, motorcycle fashion shows and competitions.