A digital ticket giving access to a minimum of 10 livestreamed festival sessions at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature (January 29 - February 13) is now on sale. 

 

For the first time, the festival will be livestreaming a selection of sessions in Arabic and English from the big Festival weekend at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City (February 4-6) to ensure anyone who cannot get a ticket or is unable to attend doesn’t miss out. The digital pass will cost AED100 ($27.2).

 

Festival director Ahlam Bolooki explained: “We have a fantastic programme of live events, but with social distancing measures in place there will be fewer tickets available. We want to make sure that everyone has a chance to get a sprinkling of the wonder of the LitFest, so the digital passes allow those who cannot attend to wander in and out of a range of sessions virtually.” 

 

Sessions that will be available virtually include fantastic solos, including Amin Maalouf, Elif Shafak, Walaa Kamal and fantastic panels, such as ‘Fighting the Anti-Facts Movement’, and ‘Social Stereotypes’. The full details are available on the website.  

 

The 2021 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will feature live sessions featuring home-grown writers, poets and experts combined with virtual appearances from international authors. The festival stretches across three weekends and three venues: Jameel Arts Centre (January 29-30), the big middle weekend at the Festival’s home, the InterContinental Dubai Festival City (February 4-6) and Alserkal Avenue (February 12-13).

 

Nobel prize winner Malala, Booker nominees Avni Doshi (Burnt Sugar) and Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister the Serial Killer) will be among the authors zooming in from afar. Many sessions will be inspired by the 2021 Festival theme, ‘Change the Story’, capturing the spirit of the current times through family fun, enlightening and entertaining talks, fresh ideas and dynamic performances centred on books, art, science, current affairs, film and food.

 

In addition to the AED100 for a digital pass to watch live-streamed sessions from home, ticket prices to attend the live events start at AED60 ($16.3) for adult sessions and AED40 ($10.8) for children’s sessions. 

 

The Festival will be fully compliant with all Covid-19 prevention regulations and guidelines from the Dubai Health Authorities, including social distancing measures across all three venues and mandatory masks. See full details on the Emirates LitFest website.

 

The Festival is held with Founding Partners Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated authority for heritage, arts, and culture and under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai. - TradeArabia News Service