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Get ready for 32 days of bargains, promotions, culture and entertainment. Every family has one, and more importantly every family would not complete without one. The dictionary defines a shopaholic as ?a compulsive shopper who suffers from uncontrolled overspending?.
Well LOOK OUT Dubai ? because, overnight, the city has been transformed into a shopaholic?s paradise or nightmare (depending on whether you?re in recovery or not!)
The word shopaholic has become a common term in homes across the globe. From husbands, wives and children to girlfriends and boyfriends, everyone has the potential to become one.
And for one month only, Dubai will be the place for every shopaholic. The Dubai Shopping Festival starts today and, it seems the whole country is celebrating.
More importantly, everyone is invited to be a part of the opening tonight of the 11th edition of the ultimate shopping, winning and entertaining extravaganza.
The event will be launched with a bang with a laser show and burst of pyrotechnics like the city has never witnessed before.
And this year, the show will certainly take your breath away. Stunning
A domino-effect firework display starts at 9pm over the Palm Jumeirah and will last for exactly seven minutes.
The baton will then be passed to the Jumeirah Beach Park, where the fireworks will take to the sky at exactly 9.07pm and last a further seven minutes.
Next comes the Al Mamzar Area on Sharjah Road ? 9.14pm, again lasting up to seven minutes.
From there to the Global Village, on the far side almost directly opposite, at 9.21pm, again a uniform burst lasting seven minutes.
Next: Dubai World Trade Centre ? 9.30pm, a three minute burst, followed by a two minutes of joint burst from Dubai Festival City and Al Maktoum Bridge at 9.33pm where the fireworks will form a waterfall for three minutes over the bridge before culminating in a grand finale from all locations which will literally have Dubai sparkling like a diamond.
But even before the fireworks get going at 9pm, the stage will have been set by a ?laser effects? show which will transform the surface of Dubai Creek into something from a cover of a fantasy magazine.
The show starts at 7pm building up to the fireworks from the seven different locations.
One big party
The idea behind the lavish launch is to bring people together under the DSF message of One World. One Family. One Festival.
The best central location to watch the proceedings is Al Maktoum Bridge, however organisers are advising that people spread out across the city to watch the show.
Organisers say the fireworks will go up 65 metres in the air from the top of the DWTC Tower and 200 to 300 metres from Al Maktoum Bridge.
Enjoy
But you don?t have to wait for the fireworks to start enjoying the DSF. From 4pm the shopping and entertainment begins in earnest. Top events such as the Islands of the World in the Creek Park, the street performances in Al Seef and Al Riqqa streets, the Bazaars of the World and the Night Souq on Al Seef Street are just a handful of the things to attract the shopaholics.
Not to mention the DSF Desert Camp, the Global Village with its 39 international pavilions, the Heritage and Diving Village in Shindagah, Al Bastakiya and the shopping malls in their individual settings, which are all welcome sights for the Visitors to DSF
The Islands of the World lets you take a look at how life ambles along in the Solomon Islands, in the Samoa, the Seychelles, the Maldives and Zanzibar.
Take a bite from the cuisine of these islands and you might even end up in bed dreaming of palm fronds and coconuts raining from the sky.
It?s also your chance to visit the Masters ? An Art Exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre and to attend the daily individual activities, besides the many events being organised in the public parks such as the newly-opened Zabeel Park and the Creek Park with its daily Aqua Fantasia shows, recreation activities, carnivals, plays and workshops.
Celebrations at DSF 2006 start today and run for a full 32 days and nights.
Something for everyone
Packed with events that will find acceptance with the individual and the family, there is everything from the sporting to theatre, from prizes in kind to prizes in cash.
Tonight, drive down to the Global Village, and walk up to the Lexus Mega Raffle Stage. If you have a Lexus Raffle ticket or a Gold and Jewellery Promotion coupon offering a kilo of gold, the tension will be certainly be enough to hold you captivated until the winner is announced alone.
And there?s always the chance that it might be YOU! Then there is the Nissan Grand Raffle tickets which also go on sale today.
All you have to do is visit one of the participating outlets and spend Dh25 to get a Grand Nissan Raffle ticket.
So shopaholic or not, the Dubai Shopping Festival offers something for everyone. And guaranteed ? those who aren?t yet shopaholics, probably will be by the end of the annual event.
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