Dubai-based leading airline Emirates has announced a five-year title sponsorship of Dubai Jazz Festival, the region’s only music event spread over nine consecutive nights.

The 2013 edition will feature 27 diversified performances that will be rocking the city from February 14 to 22, 2013 at Festival Park, Dubai Festival City.

Anthony Younes, CEO at Chillout Productions, organiser and founder of Dubai Jazz festival, said: “The Emirates Airline sponsorship adds to the allure of the Dubai Jazz Festival and we are very pleased to be associated with a highly acclaimed international brand over the next five years.

“The 2013 edition of the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival will include some of the finest musicians who will perform a diverse portfolio of musical genres. We invite music lovers from around the region to attend this special event that will offer much more than jazz.”

Sheikh Majid Al Mulla, Emirates’ senior vice president, Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East & Iran said: “Emirates has a longstanding relationship with the Jazz Festival through our frequent flyer programme, Skywards.

“By entering this new five-year sponsorship agreement, Emirates is demonstrating its commitment to this popular attraction on the Dubai events calendar. With our extensive network across six continents, we connect people on so many different levels, and music is very much part of that.”

“The Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival has grown remarkably over the years. The festival will be hosted at Dubai Festival City for the second year running due to the outstanding venue that played host to over 48,000 fans during last year’s event. Throughout the 2013 edition, we are expecting more than 50,000 fans to attend from the UAE and neighboring GCC countries,” added Younes.

The 11th edition of the festival will feature legendary British rock band Deep Purple as one of the key headlining acts who are set to perform on February 21, 2013.

“Next year marks the band’s comeback with the release of a brand new album. At the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival, Deep Purple will play a number of their renowned classic tracks, including Smoke On The Water, Highway Star, Child In Time, Hush and Perfect Strangers, to name a few,” Younes said.

Last year, the band received the Innovator Award at the 2011 Classic Rock Awards in London. The band is nominated for America’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2013.

“Deep Purple is one of the four headlining acts at next year’s Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival. The programme also includes nights at the venue’s Jazz Garden, where a wide array of Jazz, Blues, Soul and R&B performers are set to keep fans entertained. More exciting announcements for the rest of the headlining artists are coming up very soon,” concluded Younes. – TradeArabia News Service