Get ready for Fitness Challenge

MONTH-LONG EVENT STARTS WITH TWO-DAY CARNIVAL AT DUBAI FESTIVAL CITY TOMORROW

Month-long event starts with two-day carnival at Dubai Festival City tomorrow

Residents have virtually no excuse not to participate in the 30-day Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC) beginning tomorrow, or be active for at least 30 minutes a day wherever they are, an official said.

The citywide fitness challenge will start with a two-day carnival at Dubai Festival City, which comprises team and individual sports, stage acts and a host of fun activities.

A flagship initiative of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, DFC will give residents and tourists a platform and thousands of opportunities to kickstart their journey to fitness.

DFC this year is much more spread out across the city, and offers five themed fitness villages, to enable residents to participate in fitness activities of their liking and choose the ones closest to them.

“Basically, we introduced the themed fitness villages to make sure that the kind of content that is available is appealing to specific activities, lifestyle or experiences that people want to have,” Suhaila Gobash, director of Festivals and Events at the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) under Dubai Tourism, and DFC spokesperson, told Gulf News.

“We’ve thought of everything. There’s no excuse for anyone, even if they are sitting at home or in the office, they still can exercise. We have manuals even for that,” she added.

“Last year, our target was 100,000 participants and we got 700,000 plus. We’re aiming for a million this year. I hope we will get more than that.”

Opening carnival

For the opening carnival, more than 30 sports sessions and 80 group classes are on offer. Personalities like Swedish professional boxer Badou Jack, former English footballer Michael Owen, health coach and nutritionist Dr Nourhan Kandil, and fitness guru and role model Emily Skye will be on hand to inspire and perspire with them through a vast array of fitness sessions.

An entertaining multimedia show and spectacular fireworks display over the water at 10.50pm will highlight the first night and mark the beginning of the month-long challenge.