Dubai Shopping Festival 2013- The Festival Season of Dubai

Hi,
Dubai is gearing up for another festive season- Dubai Shopping Festival 2013 from Thursday, 3rd January - Sunday, 3rd February 2013.

Let us share our DSF experiences in this thread.

 

Hi,
Dubai Shopping Festival is a leader in setting world records, having established more than 50 in its 16-year history. These records have raised the profile of the DSF and Dubai among the international community. Following is a list of the world records created during the last 16 editions of the DSF, most of which have been endorsed by Guinness World Records.

1996
1. The longest cake: The massive cake, stretching 2.53 kilometre weighed 74,000 kilogrammes, was baked as a tribute to the late UAE President H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The cake cost $82,000, was baked by 507 chef’s from 23 of Dubai’s premier hotels and formed the main highlight of the UAE’s National Day celebrations in 1996.

1999
2. The longest and heaviest gold chain: Measuring 4,382 metres, this mammoth gold chain weighed 238 kilogrammes. Sponsored by AngloGold, this was made by Siroya Jewellers.

3. The largest mattress: Measuring 10 metres long and eight metres wide with a thickness of 60 centimetres, the world’s longest mattress weighed 2.5 tonnes. About 45 people made this over a 10 days period. It took over 700 man hours to make and four hours to move the crane.

4. The world’s longest sofa: The 100-feet-long sofa beat the previous world record of a 24-feet sofa, made in England.

5. The largest stationery bicycle: The bicycle was 7.5 metres high with a six-metre diameter front wheel and 1.7 metre diametre back wheel. Six persons took six months to complete the bicycle.

6. The largest chair: The wrought-iron chair was 7.56 metres high and 3.2 metres wide.


2000
7. The largest Shawarma: Consisted of 1,850 kilogrammes of boneless chicken; cooked in a specially fabricated grill of six metres on March 24, 2000.

8. The biggest raffle of Rolls Royce cars: During DSF 2000, Dubai raffled off 31 Rolls Royce silver seraph cars, in addition to 31 Nissan Patrol 4-wheel-drive vehicles and 57 kilos of gold. This was the biggest single order the UK-headquartered company has received in its 98-year-history.

9. The largest greeting card/message board: Measuring 157.5 metres in length and 2.5 metres in width, it was spread out in an area of 393 square metres.

10. The longest taxi parade: Dubai Transport Corporation assembled 1,100 taxis from its fleet to create the new world record, on March 24, 2000. The taxis drove in a parade through Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Seef Street.

11. The biggest cradle: Measuring 24 feet in length, 18 feet in height and 12 feet in width, enough to accommodate up to 50 babies.

12. The biggest spaghetti bowl: As much as 703 kilogrammes of spaghetti was cooked with 500 kilogrammes of sauce and was consumed in an hour’s time by 5,000 people at Al Shindagha.


2001
13. The world’s largest incense burner (Madkhan): Weighing about 1,000 kilogrammes, this was created by Ajmal Perfumes.

14. The highest number of candles lit on a cake: A total of 2,100 candles, each measuring 18 cm in height, were lit. The 2,100 number represented the number of rooms then available with the Rotana group of hotels in the UAE.

15. The biggest bowl of biryani: Breaking the previous world record of 1,500 kilogrammes, the world’s biggest bowl of biryani weighed 1,885.4 kilogrammes. More than 8,000 bowls of biryani were distributed at the Shindagha heritage site.

16. The tallest Croquembouche: It took 2,600 hours of labour and was made from 140,000 choux buns, 10,800 eggs, 360 kilogrammes of flour and 240 kilogrammes of butter.

17. The largest shopping bag: Measuring 71 inches in height, 47 inches in width and 9 inches in circumference, it was made by Paris Gallery, as part of the DSF.

18. The largest collection of photographs based on a single concept: Was organised by Kodak with its collection of 10,610 photographs.

19. The largest collection of miniature models: Was made by Suhail Al Zarooni - the then 31-year-old UAE businessman who beat his own record, with a collection of 2,000 miniature model cars dating back to 1886.


2002
20. The biggest entry visa: Issued by The Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD), measuring 0.7 m x 1 m it was issued to Kholoud Younis, a Palestinian from Dammam, Saudi Arabia. She was on a 10-day visit to Dubai with her two sons Luai and Mohammed. The visa, a giant version of the regular A4-size document.

21. The biggest box of chocolates: A massive version of the Galaxy Jewel box, weighed 856.55 kilogrammes, was manufactured by Master Foods ME. It beat the previous record of 85 kilogrammes more than 10 times. The previous record was set in New York City on Valentines Day in 2000.

22. The biggest Oud: Manufactured by Mohammed Fadel Music Establishment, a family-run business in Sharjah, it measures 3.8 metres long and two metres wide. Its neck alone measured one metre (compared with 20 cm for a regular oud). Like the original Arabic musical instrument, the giant version has five double strings and 12 keys.

23. The biggest magazine: The Dubai-based cosmetics chain Paris Gallery unveiled the world’s biggest magazines at the Union House. The 100-page colour magazines, measuring 67 cm x 98 cm, was printed on glossy paper and contained regular articles and ads from “Paris Gallery” magazine.

24. The longest continuous watercolour painting: Involving one-the-spot work by more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff of Zayed University, the university broke the record previously held by students and staff of G. Marconi School in Italy which painted 280 by 1.7 metres. Zayed University produced a continuous watercolour painting 340 metres long and two metres wide on a roll of recycled paper, with a total painting area of 680 square metres.


2003
25. The largest flower carpet: Cultivated by Dubai Municipality was displayed at Safa Park. The largest flower carpet measured 2,040 metres long and had 65,210 flowers of varied colours. The current record in this category was in Belgium, which was 300 square metres, and displayed in August 2002.

26. The biggest Abaya: Ghareem Shaila and Abaya sponsored the largest Abaya at 8.37 metres long and 3.66 metres wide.

27. The biggest Ghutra and Ogal: Head gear was 58 metres long with 15 centimetres thickness and a diameter of 70 metres

28. The biggest prayer rug: Created by Al Salem Group, was 10 metres long and 4 metres wide.

29. The biggest photo album: About 240 centimetres long and 120 centimetres wide contained pictures of DSF 2002.

courtesy: Gulfnews.com

 

2004
30. The largest calendar: Created by Qassim Al Hammadi features pictures of the rulers of Dubai. The calendar measures 1.5 x 2.1 metres and has 14 pages.
31. The largest shopping trolley: Stood 10.5 m (34.4 ft) high from ground to handle, with a basket 6.88 m (22.57 feet) long (top edge) and 4.46 m (14.63 feet) wide. The wheels measured 0.79 m (2.59 feet) in diameter. It was made by the Al Safeer Group and Century Shopping Mall in an attempt sponsored by Dubai Duty Free and was unveiled at the DSF, UAE on 6 February 2004.

32. The largest photo panel: Features a mosaic of pictures of babies of the UAE. Residents from at least 50 countries in the emirate sent photos of their babies below the age of five for this display. The event set a new record of accumulating 18,907 pictures. The world record in this category was 16,609 photographs of smiling Greeks welcoming the Olympics back to Athens.

33. The largest paper clip: Weighs 480 kilogrammes and is made out of a 9.7 metres steel bar, 5.7 centimetres thick, three metres high, and in a 1:60 ratio to an actual clip. Twenty-five workers worked to created this marvel.

34. The longest food buffet: Set in the Zabeel Park, more than 150 staff from five hotels chosen by the DSF committee served 515 dishes at the buffet. The world record was previously held by Las Vegas Hilton, which served a 510-item buffet in celebration of Alka Seltzer’s 75th anniversary.

2005
35. The largest collection box: Produced as part of the DSF 2005, the largest collection box has a total volume of 13 cubic metres (459 cubic feet) and measured 6.87 metres (22 feet 6 inches) high and 3.60 metres (11 feet 9 inches) wide in Creek Park, Dubai, UAE, on 10 February 2005.

36. The largest gathering of people with the same first name: As many as 1,096 Mohammeds gathered at the event, as part of the DSF at Creek Park, Dubai, on 10 February 2005.

37. The world’s largest human flag: Featuring some 16,200 students who gathered wearing the appropriate coloured caps and T-shirts, to form the national flag of UAE. The previous record for the world’s largest human flag comprises of 10,371 spectators who formed the German flag in the south grandstand at the Scotland vs Germany European Championships qualifying football match in the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany on September 10, 2003.

38. The world’s largest mosaic out of cans: Depicts a huge DSF shopping bag logo, this mosaic, made from about 45,000 soft drink cans, was conceived and supplied by Pepsi and constructed by Happening. This record is based on the number of cans used and not the dimensions of the mosaic.

2007
39. The largest inflatable: Stood 25 metres tall and 14 metres wide, measured 2,079 cubic metres Designed and manufactured by a UK-based company, the giant Vitaene C bottle floated above Safa Park.

40. The longest game of Chinese Whispers
41. The longest line of footprints
42. The largest wallet
43. Largest bed and mattress by Intercoil

2008
44. The longest wooden chopsticks: Created by Dubai’s Marco Polo Hotel, the chopsticks are 22 feet long and made of wood. Six craftsmen worked for one week to create the chopsticks. China’s Shenyang province held the world record measuring 20ftx7.83 inches.

45. The largest traditional dancing gathering: Featured scores of Youla performers at Creek Park.
46. Longest Coin Spinning Duration
47. The Longest duration of football control
48. Hula Hooping: The most hoops being used on oneself simultaneously or the most number of hoops during hula hoping event.

49. The largest traditional dress: kandoora.

2009
50. The most varied desserts on display: More than 2,232 types of desserts was achieved by DSF in conjunction with the Emirates Culinary Guild (both UAE) at Uptown Mirdiff, Dubai, UAE, on 13 February 2009.

51. The world’s largest Gold ring – a 64 kilogram gold ring crafted by Kanz Jewels and valued at Dh11 million. Najmat Taiba, manufactured by Taiba, Saudi Arabia, is studded with 5.1 kilograms of Swarovski stones from Signity Middle East and was supported by the World Gold Council. Fifty-five workers worked 45 days for 10 hours a day to make this piece.

Courtesy: Gulfnews.com

 

Hi,
As part of the Christmas Celebrations, WAFI City has organised a Sound & Light Show until 31-Dec-12. Believe me, it is a must- watch show.

4 shows every day 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 & 9:30 PM. The show lasts about 8 minutes. Incredible display of laser:bowdown

Try not to miss! Please do post your comments here!