What’s happening in Dubai in 2018?
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This year, Dubai will see the launch of the world’s longest urban zipline, the opening of the Frame, Zaha Hadid’s’ ‘The Opus’ building, and a six-week special of Van Gogh’s Alive exhibition.
Frame opens in Dubai
Rising 150 metres high and 93 metres wide, the Dubai Frame is an architectural landmark that unites the city’s past, present and future. Its two vertical towers are connected by a 100-square-metre bridge that features a 25-square-metre glass panel in the centre, offering a 360-degree view of the city. The bridge serves as an observation deck providing views of old Dubai to the north and new Dubai to the south.
Visitors begin their journey by learning about the history of Dubai in the Past Gallery, with projections depicting Bedouin life, camels and the sands of the desert.
They then move on to augmented reality-activated screens on the Sky Deck level that showcase present-day Dubai, before walking through a ‘vortex tunnel’ to a virtual metropolis representing the future of Dubai.
Ticket prices start from £10.
www.thedubaiframe.com
World’s tallest hotel to open in Dubai
The world’s tallest hotel is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2018 in Dubai. It will have 528 rooms spread right up to the 75th floor and will be356 metres high. Gevora Hotel will be more than three times taller than London’s Big Ben, 56 metres taller than Paris’ Eiffel Tower, and around equal to the length of three football pitches.
Located on Sheikh Zayed Road in the Trade Centre area, the hotel will feature four restaurants, swimming pools for adults and children, a Jacuzzi facility, a health club, a luxury spa and gymnasiums.
www.gevorahotels.com
Double zip-line opened in Dubai Marina
Currently standing as the world’s longest urban zip line, extending a kilometre from a height of 170 metres to ground level, the XLine Dubai Marina is now open to the public.
The line features an incline of 16 degrees and reaches an average top speed of 80 kilometres per hour. Guests can try the superman-style harness, suspending horizontally as they zip from one of the Amwaj towers in JBR down to the terrace of Dubai Marina Mall. Prices start from £126.
http://xdubai.com/xline
New floating platform to watch the iconic Dubai fountain
A floating platform located within the fountain pool area will give the audience a whole new perspective of the performances. Guests can start their journey from Burj Park or Fountain Promenade and stroll down the 272-metre boardwalk, with the closest point putting guests only 9m away from the fountains. Open between 5pm and 11pm daily, the prices start from £4.
www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/around-the-burj/the-dubai-fountain.aspx
Zaha Hadid’s architectural wonder The Opus opens this month
The official opening of Zaha Hadid’s ‘The Opus’ building will take place this month. The Opus is the architect’s only work in Dubai and is located in Business Bay. It consists of two glass towers linked by a ground-floor podium and a steel and glass bridge towards the top, with a futuristic void in the middle.
www.omniyat.com/project/theopus/
Van Gogh exhibition going on display in Dubai
The Van Gogh Alive exhibition will enable visitors to see the Dutch Post-Impressionist’s most famous works for the duration of six weeks at Dubai Design District from March 11 to April 23rd.
This new style of sensory exhibition will appeal to adults and children through playful interaction with the paintings and pictures on display. Prices start from £14.
www.dubaidesigndistrict.com/events
VR experience takes users to pinnacle of Burj Khalifa
A new virtual reality (VR) experience that simulates the feel of scaling Burj Khalifa’s 160 habitable floors, before embarking on a climb to the top of the spire, has now opened.
The simulation takes users to the very top of the tower before descending in a journey which can be completed in four minutes. A ‘mission commander’ reaches out to users as they ride the elevator on VR mode to the 160th level where they collect suction gloves to ascent the spire, before grabbing a parachute for the free-fall VR ride into the dancing fountains.
The experience uses ‘room scale’ tracking technology that enables users to move in three-dimensional space and interact with the environment with motion-tracked handheld controllers. The pods feature a wind-effect, whereby the VR ride is as close to real as possible.
www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/the-tower/gallery/at-the-top-sky.aspx
Crystal Maze-inspired gaming destination opens
Opening in Al Barsha, Jumble is calling itself the world’s first indoor urban maze, an unconventional gaming experience. Jumble combines the element of logic and puzzle solving that people are used to from other escape rooms in the city and throws in physical exercise and exertion. The 3,500 sq. m space is a maze with a selection of activities that push visitors’ logic, reasoning, athleticism and teamwork skills with a series of physical and mental tests. Prices start from £29.
UAE to get first sustainable hotel
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Diamond Developers will launch Hotel Indigo Dubai Sustainable City, which will be 100% powered by solar energy. Located in Dubai’s first sustainable integrated development, the 143-room hotel will be a net zero energy building. Additionally, the architecture and interior design across the hotel will incorporate sustainability principles at every step of the guest journey and hotel operations.
www.ihgplc.com/en/our-brands/hotel-indigo
New Emirates route from Stansted
Emirates will become the first Middle Eastern airline to operate out of the Essex airport when services begin in June. The daily service will be operated by Emirates’ new Boeing 777-300ER featuring the latest cabin interiors and fully enclosed private suites in First Class. The new route will connect businesses from the London Stansted Cambridge Corridor with Emirates global network of over 154 destinations worldwide.
La Mer
The new beachfront development La Mer spans 13.4 million square feet of existing and reclaimed land. Located between Pearl Jumeirah and Jumeirah Bay, it stretches from Jumeirah 1 into the ocean complete with views of the city skyline and Arabian Gulf. It comprises four zones – the beach, a leisure and entertainment hub, North Island, and South Island.
www.lamerdubai.ae
W Hotel, The Palm
A second W Hotel will open in Dubai in March, located on the western crescent of Palm Jumeirah. Built to resemble the letter W, the hotel resort and residential complex will feature a spa, pool areas, water features and other amenities, as well as approximately 100,000 square metres of accommodation including 350 guest rooms and 45 super luxury duplex, triplex apartments and penthouses.
Opening June 2018.
Dubai Food Festival
Dubai Food Festival is a citywide food festival in the Middle East. The festival is a three-day event. Tickets start from £18.
www.visitdubai.com/en/dff
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