Performance and arts
There are also a couple of new venues that are set to blow the stage doors wide open this year.
Dubai Arena
This will be the region’s largest indoor arena and will be ready to welcome 17,000 spectators when it opens in Dubai’s City Walk later this year. The venue will be able to accommodate everything from sporting events to live concerts and gala dinners year-round, and will be managed by AED Ogden, whose portfolio also includes London’s The O2 Arena. The watertight roof structure weighs approximately 4,000 tonnes (equivalent to seven A380 airplanes) and has been designed to allow for excellent acoustics. Abdulla Al Habbai, group chairman at Meraas, says: “We are confident that Dubai Arena will position the city on the international entertainment touring circuit and the audiences will have the opportunity to witness the world’s most talented performers and sporting events in the heart of Dubai.”
The Arts Club
Do you want to be a member of the same club novelist Charles Dickens once belonged to? Well, this year you can, as London’s most famous private members institution, The Arts Club, is set to open up in the new ICD Brookfield development in DIFC. Founded in 1863, the establishment is a haven for anyone who has a professional or amateur interest in the arts, literature or sciences. The Dubai space will stretch across five floors and include a rooftop terrace, three restaurants and bars, a cigar club, exhibition spaces and a business centre. www.icdbrookfieldplace.com