As the Ten Surprises enter the eighth week, shopping malls and retail outlets are reaping the dividends of DSS promotions throughout Dubai even as participant outlets recorded retail revenues of AED 76.7 million in only the sixth week, bringing the total retail revenues since the beginning of DSS 2007 to AED 347.9 million. With only three more weeks left in DSS 2007, the Surprises are featuring exciting and entertaining events as the leading regional summer festival comes to a close.
The DSS Office has announced that some of the events and activities in malls will be temporarily rescheduled due to the occasion of isra wal miraaj, a religious event popularly known as the 'Night Journey and Ascension of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)'. According to the new schedule, some events and activities in malls and Modhesh Fun City will be suspended till 7:30pm on Friday, August 10.
Global Surprises
The eighth week of Global Surprises continues with the folk dance shows of Turkey and the African nation of Congo. The Surprise attracted large crowds last week and hopes to repeat the success this week in Dubai Festival City. A workshop named 'Flags of the Globe' is also being held throughout the week. All events are being held between 5 and 10pm.
Nature Surprises
Bin Sougat Centre hosts another exciting week of Nature Surprises. Titled 'Insectitoonz', various activities themed on bees are being staged. These include workshops, games, competitions, and a host of other interesting events for children that will be held between 5 and 10pm.
Arts Surprises
Times Square Center hosts the eighth week of Arts Surprises with painters from Germany, Egypt, and the GCC. Featuring various paintings done in different mediums, the exhibition also gives visitors the opportunity to buy the exhibits. This week also features a variety of art and craft workshops and film animation for kids and adults.
Knowledge Surprises
Al Ghurair City hosts the eighth week of Knowledge Surprises where a host of edutainment activities are being organized for children. Star Lab, the miniature planetarium returns this week, in addition to the Physics Phenomena Exhibition, Machine and Mechanism Workshop, and the lively Mascots Parade. The evens will be held between 5 and 10pm.
Food Surprises
Slated to attract huge crowds this week, Food Surprises presents the Chocolate week during the next seven days at Deira City Centre. A food craft workshop and a cooking demonstration are being organized to enlighten visitors everything they need to know about chocolate. The workshops and the demonstrations will be conducted by chefs from leading hotels in Dubai and will be held at 6pm, 7:30pm, and 9pm.
Heritage Surprises
Heritage Surprises brings the exciting world of native American Indians through traditional Navajo music and dance and various traditional activities like weaving, etc. activities will begin from 4:30pm and go on till 9:20pm. The Surprise will be held at Mall of the Emirates till August 15th.
Flower Surprises
Flower Surprises, the most colourful of the Ten Surprises, features a display area and a magic show with flowers, apart from a workshop on creating flowers from various materials. While visitors can view the display from 5:30pm to 9:30pm, the magic show will be held at 6:30pm and 8pm, while the workshop is being organized between 5:30 and 9:30pm. Century Mall will host Flower Surprises this week.
Cartoon Surprises
BurJuman hosts the favourite Surprise of children, Cartoon Surprises, in the eight week. Apart from the hugely popular cartoon exhibition and interactive workshop, the coming week also features the 'meet and greet with Khristy' show with two favourite cartoon characters, Thumper the Rabbit and Humpty Dumpty. The workshop and the exhibition will be held between 5 and 10pm.
Comedy Surprises
Comedy Surprises has been a huge hit with visitors in its first year in DSS 2007 with numerous international shows showcasing non-stop laughter. Among the main activities of the Surprise are the comedy exhibition and the interactive workshop where children can get their faces painted to their liking in addition to a host of art activities based on comedy. Ibn Battuta Mall will host Comedy Surprises throughout this week.
Adventure Surprises
The Eighth week of Adventure Surprises features some exciting activities for adventurous children with cowboy events, mini stories, and even a show of 'Cowboy Dancers'. Reef Mall will host Adventure Surprises till August 15th with activities scheduled between 5 and 9:30pm.
Launched in 1998, Dubai Summer Surprises was conceived as the foremost family entertainment event during the summer season for the whole of GCC. Targeted at visitors from outside the UAE and within the country, DSS has been a major entertainment and shopping attraction since its inception and witnessed 1,875,000 visitors in the year 2006 compared to 600,000 in 1998. The event has succeeded in positioning Dubai as the leading summer destination in the region.
The ten-week event is a celebration of different surprises that offer visitors and shoppers the perfect family entertainment opportunity and the ideal combination of shopping and adventure. Over the years DSS has hosted numerous surprises such as Food, Water, Global, Ice, Flower, Sports, Heritage, Arts, Techno, Cartoons, Colour, Sweets, Knowledge, and Back-2-School. The summer event lays special emphasis on children, who are provided all the opportunities to hone their skills while enjoying a fun-packed ten weeks of activities. DSS also has its own mascot, Modhesh, the ever smiling brand ambassador who embodies everything that the event stands for – fun, excitement, brightness and unlimited joy for children.
Dubai Summer Surprises as a venture has contributed significantly to the economy of Dubai and continues to do so by enhancing different economic sectors during a lean period of economic activity in summer. An increase in visitor expenditure from AED 850 million in 1998 to AED 2.57 billion in 2006 is a clear indication of the event's ability to drive economic growth during summer. Into its tenth year, Dubai Summer Surprises has come a long way by building on the successes of the previous editions and aims to create a benchmark for future years to provide the three most important characteristics of the event – shopping, winning, and entertainment.
