The Dubai Food Festival 2015’s full and flavoursome line-up of new and returning gastronomic consumer and business events, celebrity chefs, activities and promotions, has been announced by Dubai Festivals and Retails Establishment (DFRE), an agency of Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). Marking the Festival’s second edition, this year’s Dubai Food Festival (DFF) will welcome a calendar of delicious and diverse events across four key themes, including Emirati Cuisine, Homegrown restaurants, Multi-cultural Dining and Street Food and International Chefs and Restaurants.

With exclusive and new events set to include the region’s-first foodie film nights, Dubai Food & Film, and nine back-to-back celebrity chef cooking sensations as part of the new-for-2015 and Middle East’s first, Fatafeat Kitchen, the Festival will also welcome a fleet of the city’s favourite food trucks in the Food Truck Convoy. Another highlight comes in the form of celebrity chef’s taking over the kitchens of the Dubai Creek’s iconic floating restaurants as part of Dine On The Creek. The 23-day city-wide extravaganza will also bring back 2014 event favourites, Beach Canteen, Dubai Food Carnival, Taste of Peru, Gulf Food and the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) amongst many more.

Celebrity Chefs

Promoting the depth and diversity of the city’s gastronomic offering as it positions Dubai as a leading international hub for world-class food, DFF 2015 headliners include the Michelin-starred Jason Atherton, award-winning Greg Malouf, TV favourite Sanjeev Kapoor, Queen of the Arabic Kitchen, Manal Al Alem, critically-acclaimed chef and best-selling author, Silvena Rowe, and the renowned Saudi Arabian Super Chef Yousef Khumayes, many of whom have restaurants in the Emirate.

Laila Mohammed Suhail, chief executive officer, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, said, “This year’s edition of the Dubai Food Festival will incorporate a varied and extensive events calendar, showcasing our Emirate at its culinary best. Along with welcoming a number of internationally-renowned chefs, including those who have established restaurants in Dubai, the Festival will celebrate another key element of Dubai’s gastronomic offering, its most-loved home-grown concepts. The Festival programme has been designed to both highlight the range of flavours that inspire Dubai’s menus, drawn from the cuisines of the 200 nationalities that live in the city, as well as the traditions of Emirati cuisine and hospitality, an increasingly important element of our tourism offer. We look forward to welcoming residents and visitors from the region and beyond throughout February to experience the depth and diversity of our city’s culinary credentials.”

Four Key Themes:

1] Emirati Cuisine
The new-for-2015 Made In Dubai event (February 27-28, 2015 at Zabeel Park) will pay particular homage to Emirati hospitality and culture, as it showcases 96 unknown Emirati dishes through tastings and master-classes with local chefs.

2] Homegrown
The bigger and better 2015 Beach Canteen, which this year takes residence at Kite Beach for the entirety of the Festival (February 6- 28, 2015), plays host to nine of Dubai’s best homegrown restaurants and concepts. Offering visitors a unique beach dining experience, the Beach Canteen will also serve up pop-up restaurants from celebrity chefs, Jason Atherton (February 26– 28, 2015), Sanjeev Kapoor (February 21, 2015) and Yousef Khamayes (February 6– 7, 2015) and a variety of other entertainment. Similarly, the Urban Bazaar local foodie street market (February 6, 2015 The Archive, Safa Park and February 27, 2015 Creekside, Bur Dubai) will host stalls showcasing homegrown concepts.

3] Multi-cultural Dining and Street Food
Celebrating multicultural dining and street food, DFF will welcome homegrown food trucks including local favourites Moti Roti, Raw Coffee and Burger Fuel, to take part in the Food Truck Convoy. The trucks will arrive at key locations including Tecom, JLT and Emaar Square throughout the Festival, serving up the best street food cuisine. DFF will also welcome Street Nights (February 20-21, 2015), which will pair street art with street food in the city’s up-and-coming arts precinct, Al Quoz. 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 during February.

4] International Chefs and Restaurants

Regional and international celebrity chefs will appear at Fatafeat Kitchen (February 20-21, 2015), which will welcome nine in total including Egyptian cuisine expert Chef Salma Soliman to take part in live cooking demonstrations. Another of the Festival’s inaugural events, Dine On The Creek, will see celebrity chefs including Sanjeev Kapoor, Manal Al Alem and Yousef Khumayes serve up their internationally award-winning dishes in traditional Emirati surroundings.

Debra Greenwood, director, Dubai Food Festival 2015 said, “With a theme of ‘Find your Flavour’, 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 foodie trends, will have a distinctly Dubai flavour.”