DUBAI’S EVENTS INDUSTRY STAGES A GRAND COMEBACK

The beat is back in Dubai’s events sector with an array of regional and international artists heralding the restart of an industry that is a key pillar of the city’s tourism destination proposition and a growing contributor to its economy. The restart of the events sector has also been made possible by the decisive citywide management of the global pandemic leading to a phased resumption of events and entertainment activities, starting with a line-up of events hosted under the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) programme.

Event organisers received a further boost from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), which gave the green light for hosting live events, as well as indoor and outdoor concerts supported by precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of fans and artists.

Three sold-out shows by international comedian Jimmy Carr highlight Dubai’s position as a safe and popular events and entertainment hub. Jimmy Carr, who was originally scheduled to perform two shows at Dubai World Trade Centre on 13 and 14 August, accommodated a third show due to popular demand. All three shows were part of DSS, which ran from the city’s summer events calendar on 9 July.

His shows were a major safety test that the events sector passed without a hitch. Each show was held at 30 per cent capacity to allow for sufficient social distancing space with the venue providing a chequerboard seating format for fans. Despite the ‘new normal’ rules, it was still intimate enough for Jimmy Carr to build an enjoyable interactive rapport with the audience.

International stand-up comedians are regularly flown in to perform at the Laughter Factory with sell-out shows every month, with July bringing out the best of Dublin’s funniest comedian Danny O’Brien, storytelling comic Nick Page and Irish Times columnist comedian Peter Flanagan. Performing their hilarious acts in August were top Scottish comedian Leo Kearse, Eddy Brimson, one of the UK’s funniest comedians appearing for the first time in Dubai and Dana Alexander, one of Britain’s and Canada’s hottest emerging young comedians.

A global event that was held across virtual platforms, ‘Tomorrowland around the World’ was streamed live exclusively to the Festival Arena at Dubai Festival City, which was the only physical venue in the world to present the event to a live audience and also the first socially distanced entertainment event in the UAE. Music fans also enjoyed concerts by two top singers from the region, Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi and the talented Yara at the Dubai Opera as part of the Eid in Dubai celebrations. Fans were also able to attend a Hologram Concert featuring the late Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum at Dubai Opera.

As one of the first few cities in the world to reactivate the events industry, Dubai has lined-up events like Fall/Winter Collection retail campaign, the Dubai Home Festival, the Dubai Fitness Challenge and the iconic Dubai Shopping Festival, which kicks off in December.