The 2008 Dubai Desert Rock Festival will be held at Dubai Festival City on March 7 and 8. Bands appearing at the two day event include Korn, Muse, Machine Head, and Velvet Revolver. 1 day and 2 day tickets priced at Dhs 250 and Dhs 350 can be purchased by calling +971 4 210 8567.
Dutch trance DJ Tiesto will be performing at the Madinat Arena on February 14 2008. The show starts and 9 pm and runs to 3 am, with a warm-up set by DJ Fredelux. Ticketsare priced at 250 AED and can be booked by calling the Madinat Jumeirah Box Office on 04 366 65 46.
Latin rock legend Carlos Santana will perform his first ever gig in the Middle East at Dubai Festival City on February 15 2008. It will be one of the major events of the 2008 Dubai Shopping Festival. Tickets are available from www.santanadubai.ae and the Hard Rock Café Dubai.
Latin pop sensation Gloria Estefan will give her first concert in the Middle East at the Dubai International Film Festival next month. She will perform following the world premier of the film 90 Milas, directed by her husband Emilio Estefan. The film, named after the distance between Cuba and Florida, explores the lives of Cuban musicians in exile in the United States. The concert and film will take place on December 13 at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. Tickets are available online from www.dubaifilmfest.com.
The organisers of one of Dubai’s most eagerly awaited events, the Dubai Shopping Festival, have announced that the 2008 edition will run from January 24 to February 24 2008.
In less than three months, Dubai will host one of the region’s benchmark sporting events: ‘The Legends Rock Dubai’. Now in its third year, the event has not only caught the imagination of the UAE public, but also the attention of world’s most famous and successful tennis players. Players like former world #1 and winner of four Grand Slam titles Jim Courier or former world #2 Goran Ivanisevic will participate. Among other tennis luminaries like Thomas Muster, Pat Cash, Michael Stich, Paul Haarhuis, Mikael Pernfors and Mansour Bahrami are also confirmed players for this year’s event.
The five-day program starts on 20 November with the official press conference with all players attending and is followed by the popular Kids Day, PRO AM and the charity gala dinner on 21 November. From 22-24 November it is all about tennis: spectators will be invited to watch two singles matches and one doubles exhibitions in a knock-out format of six players, the losing players still competing in the doubles exhibitions. Gate opens Thursday at 5 pm and Friday and Saturday at 6 pm.
MAF Shopping Malls have announced that their flagship malls, the Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre, received a record 10 million visitors during the 10 weeks of the Dubai Summer Surprises shopping festival this year. Total sales were estimated at AED 1.6 billion, and increase of 38% on the figures for 2006.
FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke announced on Sunday that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 will be held in Dubai. It was also announced that the 2008 event will be held in Marseilles. The French tournament will be the first time the competition will be held outside its birthplace of Brazil.
Mattar Al Tayer, Vice-President of the Dubai Sports Council said, ‘We are privileged to be selected as host city of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009. It’s a dream come true for the UAE. It will be a great honour for us to stage an official FIFA competition for the second time, having already hosted what is now the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2003. Dubai is known for hosting international events with distinction and we will ensure that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 will be an unforgettable occasion for all.’
The Emirates Racing Authority has released their fixtures for the 2007/08 horse racing season. The highlight of the season, the Dubai World Cup, will be held on Saturday March 29 2008 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai.
Former Fugees member Lauryn Hill will be performing at the third Life Music Festival at the Madinat Jumeirah on July 5. Tickets are available from Virgin Megastores throughout Dubai.