The 25th edition of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), a city-wide shopping extravaganza started on Thursday (December 26) with incredible celebrations set to engage the entire city.

The milestone festival will run until February 1, 2020, packed with the biggest calendar of events to date, full of experiences, concerts, brand activations, daily fireworks, raffles, new DSF markets and unforgettable moments. Organised by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) in collaboration with strategic partners and key sponsors, the world-renowned festival will run for 38 days.

Opening weekend

The festival launched with a two-day DSF Grand Opening event at Burj Park, Downtown Dubai with lots of activities and pop ups started at 3pm, as well as five top artists’ acts performing for free.  Cheb Khaled, Sherine Abdel Wahab and Hussain Al Jassmi took  the stage on the first day, Thursday 26 December, while British pop star and former One Direction member Liam Payne, and singer songwriter Jorja Smith performed on Friday 27 December. The DSF Opening Weekend is sponsored by Emaar, PepsiCo, SanDisk, and National Food Products Company Oasis Water and Lacnor.

Other concerts taking place in celebration of the launch of the 25th DSF include Pakistani artist Rahat Fateh Ali Khan who performed at Coca Cola Arena on 27 December, and a hologram concert of the late Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum at Dubai Opera on 26 and 27 December.

An impressive fireworks show took over the skies of Dubai on the first day of DSF on Thursday 26 December at 9:00pm across five different locations at the same time including The Beach, Al Seef, La Mer, Dubai Festival City Mall and Dubai Creek.

The fireworks display continued on December 27 at the Dubai Frame at 7:30pm, The Beach at 8:30pm and Al Seef at 10:30pm.

The first DSF weekend saw Majid Al Futtaim Malls launch an incredible 12 Hour Sale of up to 90 per cent off major brands in City Centre Mirdif, City Centre Deira, City Centre Me’aisem, My City Centre Al Barsha and City Centre Al Shindagha and Mall of the Emirates on Thursday 26 December from 12pm until midnight. Shoppers who spend over Dh300 ($81.6) at any of the participating malls will receive a raffle coupon for a chance to win one of 25 vouchers worth Dh10,000 to shop at MAF malls during the festival.

New this DSF

Throughout DSF, there will be a series of DSF Outdoor Markets held at various locations across Dubai, each with a special theme. The locations include Hatta, Al Rigga, Al Khawaneej, Al Seef and City Walk. The signature Market Outside The Box (MOTB) will also return for its seventh edition at Burj Park, Downtown Dubai.

For the first time ever, the shopping festival will have a dedicated game ‘Yalla DSF presented by Club Apparel’; an interactive and innovative game available in English, Arabic, Mandarin and Russian played on Android and iOS devices. In collaboration with Apparel Group as the exclusive retail partner, Yalla DSF will give players a chance to win exclusive prizes that are instantly redeemable.

In collaboration with Home Centre, customers who spend Dh500 at the Mall of Emirates store will be in for a chance to win an entire home makeover. 25 winners will be selected in total between 5 January and 29 January 2020.

Powered by the online food application Zomato, DSF will present over 1,000 restaurants that will provide 25 per cent off in-dining experiences for those who have a Zomato Gold membership, which will also be at 25 per cent off the membership fee.

For the first time ever, Dubai Festival City Mall will host the LEGO Festival where children and adults interact with 11 zones each celebrating a different Lego brand. In addition, a Lego Imagine Show will come alive like never before! Fire, lasers and lights will be used for an incredible show starting on 8 January 2020.

The LEGO Festival tickets cost Dh29.99 for RFID wristbands, while the IMAGINE show is free for all every day.

Unlimited prizes

DSF has become well known for incredible prizes but the 25th edition is full of even more chances to win. From cars to cash to Skywards Miles and reward points, it promises to be the most rewarding festival to date. Shoppers can earn Skywards Miles at the rate of up to one Skywards Mile per US $1 spent for all purchases over Dh100 at The Dubai Mall.

In addition to this exciting offer, lucky ones can become Skywards Millionaires exclusively with the Dubai Shopping Festival. For a chance to win, guests need to simply spend over Dh350 and scan their receipts on The Dubai Mall App to enter between 3 Jan and 1 Feb 2020. Don’t miss out! INFINITI Mega Raffle is giving away an INFINITI QX50 as well as Dh200,000 in cash every single day of the festival, while one lucky DSF shopper will go home with a grand prize of Dh1 million in cash at the end of DSF. Raffle tickets cost Dh200 and are available at ENOC and EPCO petrol stations, Zoom outlets, Metro stations across Dubai, Gold Souk, Global Village, selected shopping malls and sales kiosks located in main streets.

The Nissan Grand Raffle will give away one of five car models every day – the Nissan Patrol 2020, Nissan Pathfinder 2019, Nissan X-TRAIL 2020, Nissan Kicks 2020 and Nissan Sentra 2020. The raffle can be entered upon a purchase of items worth a minimum of Dh25 from any EPCO or ENOC station. In total, 37 cars will be given away during DSF and a grand prize of Dh350,000 will be awarded on the last day of DSF.

Gargash Motors and General Trading will also be offering the New GAC GS7 as a prize for DSF shoppers. Simply spend Dh250 at IBM to enter the draw, starting 26 December 2019. The raffle draw date will be on 2 February 2020 at IBM.

Shoppers at Majid Al Futtaim Malls will be in for a chance to win 1,000,000 SHARE points simply by entering a draw when spending more than Dh300. Five winners will be selected each week with 25 winners selected in total.
 
At Meraas locations, when spending Dh100, customers will receive a raffle ticket to be one of the daily 25 winners who receive an Dh1,000 gift card to spend at Boxpark, The Outlet Village, City Walk, La Mer, Al Seef, Bluewaters or The Beach. At The Dubai Mall, when spending over Dh350 and scanning receipts on The Dubai Mall app, shoppers can be in for a chance to win 1 million Skywards miles, with a total of five winners selected.

At the DSF Gold Raffle, those who purchase an online raffle coupon for Dh750 will enter a draw for a chance to win 2.5 kilograms in gold which comes in a DSF-branded gold bar at the end of the festival. With only 1,000 raffle tickets available, the winner will be announced once all tickets are purchased. With Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group there are endless chances to win with coins worth Dh4 million being given away.

Those who buy gold worth Dh500 get one raffle coupon, those who buy diamonds, pearls or watches or purchase with a VISA debit or credit card, or two gold coins worth Dh500, get two raffle coupons. Five winners will be selected every day; the first will get 25 gold coins, the second 20 coins, the third 15, the fourth 10 and the fifth, five gold coins. On weekends, three more winners will be selected each winning five gold coins.

Concerts galore

Music fans can rejoice as a series of concerts take place throughout DSF. Egyptian singers Yara and Mohammad Hamaki will take the stage at The Pointe on 17 January. Tickets for both concerts are available on www.thepointe.ae. Globally renowned artist Amr Diab will perform on 24 January at Dubai Media City and tickets are available on www.800tickets.com.

Joining the exciting line-up are Mohamed Ramadan and Saad Lamjarred, who will be performing live at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 10 January, with tickets available starting Dh195 on Dubai Calendar.

Shop ‘til you drop

With more than 1,000 brands participating across close to 4,000 outlets, shoppers and deal-hunters will find offers of up to 75 per cent off across the city, as well as the opportunity to engage and collaborate with tailor-made brand activations from global fashion, beauty, homeware and lifestyle retailers.

Starting from 2 January until 26 January 2020, there will be an exclusive deal at an exclusive retailer in a specific mall which will only be announced 24 hours in advance DSF Surprises. From 2 to 26 January 2020, shopaholics are encouraged to keep DSF on their radar to discover daily surprise deals over 25 days.  Deals are announced 24 hours in advance for one brand at one location.

The 25th edition of Dubai Shopping Festival is supported by strategic partners including: Emirates Airline, Emaar Malls, Majid Al Futtaim Properties, Meraas, Nakheel, Mercato, Al Futtaim, AW Rostamani Group, Dubai Duty-Free, Enoc and Etisalat with key partners including RAK Bank and Jumbo Electronics. – TradeArabia News Service