About the Dubai Food Festival
Back for a second course – the Dubai Food Festival is preparing to cook up a storm once again when it shows off its culinary prowess as a gastronomic destination. For 23 days, from 6-28 February 2015, you’re in for a feast of foodie fun with a packed programme of food-related carnivals, events and celebrations across the whole city.
Designed to highlight the diversity of Dubai’s food offering – stemming from five-star cuisine to high-quality street food and incorporating international brands and its burgeoning scene of home-grown concepts that, together, satisfy the tastes of the almost 200 nationalities that live in the emirate – the festival will serve up the very best the city has to offer resident and visiting foodies. Enjoy!
Tempting the tastebuds: Dubai Food Festival previews delicious and in-depth 2015 programme
26 November 2014
- Dubai Food Festival set to return with expanded 23-day programme of food-related events, activities, and promotions – 6-28 February, 2015
- City-wide culinary celebration set to showcase the Emirate’s standing as a gastronomy destination through unique new concepts and a host of local and international celebrities
Previewed today at celebrity Chef Silvena Rowe’s Omnia Gourmet café, the 2015 DFF programme, curated by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) – an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) – will see the Festival promote the diversity, creativity and multi-cultural nature of Dubai’s culinary offering across four key themes:
- Emirati Cuisine: authentic local cuisine and cultural experiences that showcase both traditional as well as up-and-coming Emirati concepts and chefs
- Home-grown: celebrating the emerging scene of independent restaurants and concepts influenced by the diversity of the 200 nationalities in Dubai
- Multicultural Dining and Street Food: showcasing the range of diverse, high quality restaurant and café experiences in Dubai, across all budgets throughout different parts of the city
- International Chefs and Restaurants in Dubai: highlighting the influx of restaurants conceived or owned by world leading and Michelin-starred chefs who increasingly are choosing to open in Dubai.
HE Laila Mohammed Suhail continued: “For the 2015 edition we have taken the most successful consumer and business events from the inaugural season and around them built an exciting and dynamic three-week programme of events, activities and promotions. This programme will firmly establish Dubai Food Festival as a core fixture on Dubai’s extensive events calendar and attract increased visitation from across the region and beyond.”
Among the highlights of the festival are a selection of internationally renowned celebrity chefs, who are confirmed to participate in DFF events, including award-winning Silvena Rowe; TV favourite Sanjeev Kapoor; Queen of the Arabic Kitchen, Manal Al Alem; and Michelin-starred chef, Jason Atherton with more due to be announced in the lead up to the Festival.
In addition to 2014 festival events Gulfood, Dubai Food Carnival, Taste of Peru and Global Restaurant Investment Forum, also returning will be the highly popular Beach Canteen, which in 2015 will take residence on Kite Beach. Serving up dishes from some of the Emirate’s most-loved homegrown restaurants and eateries, Beach Canteen will also see a dynamic programme of interactive entertainment keeping visitors entertained for the duration of the Festival, including a series of pop-up concepts from renowned chefs.
New to DFF 2015, a series of Mystery Dining Tours, hosted by Lime & Tonic will highlight the diversity of Dubai’s dining experiences from local cuisine to street food, celebrity chefs to an ultra-luxurious and exclusive one-of-a-kind “high flying” tour. With a limited number of tickets, seats on the Tours are expected to sell out quickly once they go on sale on 1st December at www.limeandtonic.ae
Celebrating the multicultural dining and street food theme, DFF will also welcome Al Quoz Street Nights as part of the Festival’s line up. Pairing street art with street food, Street Nights (19th – 20th February) is set to welcome tens of thousands of residents and visitors for what will be a celebration of urban art, culture and food in the city’s up-and-coming arts precinct. Similarly, a showcase of award-winning street-food photographer Penny De La Santos’ most stunning images of the multicultural dining and street food on offer in Dubai will be on show at Dubai Airport between 14th – 28th February, and a convoy of Food
Trucks will move throughout the city, making appearances at key destinations.
Finally, a key thread of the festival will highlight the burgeoning range of Emirati chef talents and both Emirati and non-Emirati chefs innovating new dishes with traditional ingredients. The festival will close with a celebration of Emirati food, taking place on The Palm Jumeirah, which will showcase local culture, chefs and cuisines, and provide visitors with an authentic taste of local flavours.
Speaking of the 2015 edition, Debra Greenwood, Dubai Food Festival Director, said: “Dubai Food Festival 2015 promises entertainment for the entire family as it challenges festival goers to truly discover Dubai’s unique and growing culinary offer. Along with expanding 2014 event favourites, such as the highly popular Beach Canteen, Dubai Food Festival 2015 will see the addition of some truly memorable events and activities that, while inspired by global food trends, will have a distinctly Dubai flavour.”
Tickets for the Mystery Dining Tours is already on for sale on 1st of December and further additions to the Dubai Food Festival programme will be announced in the coming weeks.
