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Malls come alive with ‘Eid in Dubai’ events

DUBAI — Malls in Dubai greeted visitors with sweets to relive ‘Diyafat Al Eid’, an Islamic social tradition embedded in the values of giving and sharing during the period.

The giving away of sweets was part of the ‘Eid in Dubai’ events organised by the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) and launched in 2008 as one of the most important celebrations in Dubai attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors across the region.

Since first day of Eid on Tuesday, families headed to the malls to shop and to witness the various entertainment events in participating malls across the emirate.

Naser Hakim, PR head of DEPE, said ‘Eid in Dubai’ staged events across Mall of the Emirates, Deira City Centre, Mirdif City Centre, and Dubai Festival City. The four-day celebration will conclude on Friday.

The First ‘Eid in Dubai’ raffle draw was held at Deira City Centre, a come-on and a reward to shoppers, who spent Dh200 in a mall.

Seven lucky winners took home cash prizes of Dh50,000 each. Cash worth Dh1.4 million is being given away during ‘Eid in Dubai’.

Deira City Centre also hosted acrobatic and comic shows in addition to roaming solo performers.

The winners of the first draw held on November 16^th at Deira City Centre are Hana Mohammed (UAE), Ahad Khalid (UAE), Aftan Abu Sardana (UAE), Abdurehman Abdulla (The Comoros), Sau (Sweden), Liyana Al Nasser (Jordan), and Armin Bigham (Germany).

At the Dubai Festival City, shoppers witnessed a spectacular display of fireworks at the waterfront. The 10-minute display lit up the night sky in various colours as families lined up along the promenade to watch the spectacle.

The display, which starts at 8pm, will go on till Friday. The Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra, comprising 20 young musicians, also performed a 40-minute musical show to entertain crowds. Visitors were also treated to the Dino Live exhibition. Families shopping at Mirdif City Centre on Eid day witnessed the local elements of a traditional Eid celebration through exhibits, cuisine, and music.

The Heritage Zone hosted tents at the Central Galleria with live demonstrations of henna designing, bread-making, and arts and crafts, in addition to a hospitality tent to welcome shoppers and families.

Traditional dances such as the dabke and tannoura wowed crowds in addition to Emarati, Moroccan, and Indian traditional bands that combined to present a cultural treat. The cultural shows begin at 4:30pm and will run till Friday.

At the Mall of the Emirates, three musical shows in addition to solo musicians and roaming musical shows were staged on first day of Eid.

Musicians playing the flute, saxophone, violin, oud, and qanoon entertained visitors and the ‘Brainiac Live Show! The Big Bang’ attracted crowds of children. The event is an extremely popular televised science show and will go on until November 23 at the Mall of the Emirates. — lily@khaleejtimes.com