TIME WAS, AN EVENT IN DUBAI WOULD HAVE....

...involved little more than a pie and a pint, and seeing your favourite pub crooner knock out a few disco covers somewhere. Deira was a hotspot, as was Sharjah – yeah, Sharjah – and the weekend usually revolved around a visit to the beach or maybe a trip to a restaurant.

Everyone I’m sure had a great time, but it wasn’t quite the Dubai of today. Even those who were a huge part of the social scene then – and you can include Motivate’s boss, Ian Fairservice, in that – will be the first to admit that Dubai life then compared with Dubai life now was definitely different. Even if they were partying with the likes of Bobby Moore, as Ian was, which is pretty cool by anyone’s standards.

You see, you, dear reader, are lucky.

You’re lucky not because life back then was bad, because it wasn’t – just ask Ian and the England ‘66 team, they were all having a whale of a time – but because today’s Dubai is such a fantastic place. The sheer number of events and festivals, and concerts and exhibitions, and, well, everything and anything going on today is simply staggering. So much so, that, at times, it’s hard to keep up. I mean, not for us, of course – that’s what we do, we’re the experts, and we live for this stuff – but for everyone else, just keeping pace with it all can be tricky.

Luckily, she said, beautifully segueing into this month’s cover feature, we are here, so your social life is sorted. And this month, boy, is there an event happening – the biggest event Dubai has ever hosted, in fact. I mean, you’d have to have been living under a rock not to notice that Expo 2020 Dubai is here, and with it brings more events, entertainment, restaurants and activities than we know what to do with (almost). We’ve picked out the best bits to give you a little starting point. For more info, have a gander through our dedicated Expo supplement, neatly packaged within your mag (provided you’ve bought this issue from the supermarket and not nicked it from a hotel).

If, for some reason, you want to head somewhere besides the Expo site this month, we’ve got a rundown of new mega openings, restaurants, fun stuff – and free stuff – to try right here in our ever-changing, ever-awesome city.