Sales and satisfaction galore as weekend begins
Boxing Day and start of DSF makes for a great welcome to weekend
Dubai’s version of the Boxing Day sale: The 12-hour sale. It will kick off the 25th edition of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) today at 12pm.
Shoppers have the chance to buy things for up to 90 per cent discount at the flash sale, which will run at Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Mirdif City Centre Deira City Centre Me’aisem, My City Centre Al Barsha and City Centre Al Shindagha from 12 noon until midnight. Additionally, to incentivise more people to attend the sales, shoppers spending over Dh300 at any of the participating stores will be eligible to become one of the 25 winners of Majid Al Futtaim gift cards worth Dh10,000.
DSF’S GRAND OPENING
This year’s edition of the DSF will begin with a two-day grand opening event at Burj Park, Downtown Dubai, today. Other highlights from the opening day celebrations include fireworks displays at The Beach, La Mer, Al Seef, Dubai Festival City Mall and Dubai Creek.
Cheb Khaled, Sherine Abdel Wahab and Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi will perform at Burj Park, Downtown Dubai, tonight, while British pop star and former One Direction member Liam Payne, and singer-songwriter Jorja Smith will wow audiences tomorrow.
Admission to opening day concerts is free.
To book their spots, fans need to register on Dubai Calendar. com, Platinumlist.net or via the Dubai Calendar app.
HOLOGRAM CONCERT OF UMM KULTHUM
If any resident misses out on the DSF Grand Opening concerts, there will be a few other performances taking place, including a hologram concert of the late Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum at the Dubai Opera to see her accompanied by a live orchestra of 20 musicians on stage and a performance by Sana’a Nabil, the granddaughter of Umm Kulthum. The concert will take place today and tomorrow.
Tickets, which start from Dh195, can be purchased on the Dubai Opera website. The Coca Cola Arena in City Walk will also host Pakistani singer Rahat Ali Khan on tomorrow (December 27), with tickets starting from Dh125 and available for purchase on the Dubai Calendar website.
OTHER INTERNATIONALLY INSPIRED SALES OF 2019
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Singles Day and more are no longer reserved for the UK, US and China. They are now for everyone. UAE’s retailers are pushing their own versions of discount-heavy Black Friday promotions. Until last year, these Black/White/Yellow/Red Friday promotions were mainly for an online audience but this year, between October to mid December, the promotions just kept going.
Traditionally, Black Friday sales take place on the day after the US holiday of Thanksgiving. It is regarded as the first day of the Christmas shopping season, on which retailers offer many specials. This year, many retailers participated in Black Friday, some giving their own spin to it.
Yellow Friday, a sale started by
Noon, an online retailer owned by Emaar. Others had a White Friday sale, since some stores had an aversion to calling it black. In short, White Friday is the Middle Eastern equivalent of Black Friday in the United States.
Cyber Monday, a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It was created by retailers to encourage people to shop online.
Singles Day Sales, a Chinese phenomenon that started as an ‘anti-Valentine’s Day’ by Chinese company Ali Baba, for singles to enjoy shopping. November 11 sales has now become a global trend. 11.11 sale is now beating Black Friday, Boxing Day and other special occasion sales by the millions around the world.
Additionally Dubai hosted two 3-Day Super Sales this year in both May and October.
This year’s edition of the DSF will begin with a two-day grand opening event at Burj Park, Downtown Dubai, today.