From visiting Santa's Grotto to a cook-off at The Sustainable City, here are things to do in Dubai this weekend that do not include brunch.
Visit Santa's Grotto at Festival Plaza
Festival Plaza has a lot more in store for its community! Families can visit Santa's Grotto, beautifully designed to bring about the Christmas spirit. Located next to the IKEA elevators, Santa and his elves will be waiting for little ones and their family on the weekends of 17-18 Dec and 24-25 December. Write letters to Santa and drop them in the mailboxes at the grotto to have your wishes come true.
Where: Festival Plaza
When: 17-18 Dec and 24-25 Dec
Cook-off at The Sustainable City
Wooden spoons at the ready for the cook-off of the year at The Sustainable City, Dubai. Some of the city's top chefs will be joining resident chefs in the community to celebrate sustainability in the kitchen. Sourcing food from within the farm at TSC, the recipes will be made with the freshest ingredients, and the chefs will ensure a spectacle of an event, wowing audiences with their skills and exciting their taste buds.
Five (5) reasons to celebrate the live cook-off at The Sustainable City
1. Support sustainability. The shorter the distance from farm to table, the more sustainable your food is. Did you know that within TSC farm, there are over 40 types of fruit and grains grown?
2. Tantalise your tastebuds. A celebrity executive chef will be cooking live at TSC, and three other chefs from TSC's restaurants. The food is bound to be delicious. Make sure you skip breakfast before this one.
3. Witness skills in the kitchen. As well as rustling up some great grub, the chefs will also be putting on a display of fine cooking. Come and watch as the four chefs enter into a live cook-off.
4. Help to cheer for your favourite. Whilst it is not a competition with prizes, the chefs will certainly be looking to impress. This is your chance to have direct influence on what ends up on your plate.
5. Visit the farm. Spectators of the event can visit the TSC farm area to see the animal sanctuary, as well as the farm produce areas where the crops are grown.
6. Pick up some delicious treats. A pop-up market of sustainable products will be hosted alongside the cook-off, and several food and beverage outlets will also be open. This is the perfect time ahead of the holidays to pick up some treats.
What: A farm-to-table cooking event where four chefs will be doing live cooking demonstrations.
Where: The Plaza, The Sustainable City
When: December 16 2022, 4 pm-7 pm
Who: all your friends, family and even your pets
Contact: +971 50 2050962
VISIT MADAME TUSSAUDS DUBAI
Looking for a fun weekend activity with your kids, family, or friends?
The show-stopping, starstudded Madame Tussauds Dubai is the perfect place to see and interact with the figures of your favourite celebrities, and they have recently announced that a wax figure of Taylor Swift is the latest figure to join its incredible line-up of famous personalities.
Snap selfies and shimmy up to a remarkably lifelike replica of the country music star turned pop queen, and check out the exciting upgrade to the A-List Music Party Room for a 'party to end all parties' experience. The popular dance floor feature has also been enhanced recently with all-new interactive projections, allowing fans to throw shapes and show off their moves like never before.
Opening hours:
Sunday – Thursday 12 pm – 8 pm (last entry 7:45 pm)
Friday, Saturday & Public Holidays 11 am - 9 pm (last entry 8:45 pm)
Standard Admission Ticket prices:
Adults (11+) AED135
Children (3-11) AED110
Under 3s- free of charge
Exclusive Fame Experience Ticket prices:
VIP Tour Adults (11+) AED300
VIP Tour Children (3-11) AED240
WATCH THE DSF FIREWORKS DISPLAYS AND DRONES SHOW
Dubai's iconic fireworks are back with a series of dazzling displays on December 15 at 9 pm that will light up the sky across these six locations:
- Bluewaters and The Beach, JBR,
- Burj Al Arab,
- Dubai Frame,
- Al Seef,
- Dubai Creek,
- Dubai Festival City Mall.
Following on from opening night's fireworks displays, from December 16 to January 29, the much-loved daily DSF fireworks displays run daily at different iconic spots across the city:
- Bluewaters & The Beach, JBR,
- Al Seef,
- Dubai Festival City Mall.
For more information on the fireworks schedule, go to mydsf.ae.
DSF Drone Shows also returns this year, starting from December 15, with two all-new themed shows - Dubai Shopping Festival, inspired by the retail offerings and celebrations of DSF, and The Future of Dubai, inspired by the 2040 vision.
Shows will take place twice daily at 7 pm and 10 pm at Bluewaters and The Beach, JBR.
