AROUND 9,000 HIT THE MATS TO KICK OFF INAUGURAL XYOGA DUBAI FESTIVAL
Bollywood Star Leads Mid East’s Largest Yoga Session as Two Day Wellness Event Starts in Style
Around nine thousand yoga enthusiasts from all walks of life kicked off the Middle East’s largest mass participation yoga session, marking the start of the inaugural two-day XYoga Dubai festival, organized by Dubai Tourism and XDubai on February 19, 2016.
Photo Credit: braincrawfordphotography
Led by Bollywood actress, fitness enthusiast and author, Shilpa Shetty and world- renowned yoga guru Suneel Singh, thousands of fitness fans took over Mohammed BinRashid Boulevard in Downtown Dubai to hit the mats for the session in the shadow of the iconic Burj Khalifa.
It was a picture of serenity, as yoga fans of all ages and experience, worked through the 60 minutes routine, which was also broadcast on towering TV screens along the 1.5 kilometers stretch of boulevard that was needed to accommodate the thousands of would-be yogis.
In addition to the mass session, festival-goers also enjoyed a host of workshops and classes led by globally recognized yogi’s as the festival continued through to Saturday, 20th February.
IWAN MAKTABI OPENING EVENT IN DUBAI MALL
February marked the official opening of the Iwan Maktabi store at The Dubai Mall, at an event hosted by the Maktabi family co-hosted by Cyril Zammit, Fair Director of Design Days Dubai with special guest in attendance, German carpet designer Jan Kath.
Jan Kath’s designs were showcased at the event, including pieces from his award-winning collections Erased Heritage, Erased Classics, Radi and Lost Weave. In attendance were members of the press, industry leaders and design enthusiasts, in support of the expansion of the Maktabi brand to the United Arab Emirates and for the unveiling of Jan Kath’s masterpieces at the store in his presence.
Iwan Maktabi is recognised in Beirut as a premier purveyor decorative carpets in the region, featuring collections from renowned designers such as Houssein Rezvani and Jan Kath. The new rug haven in Dubai will feature mainly contemporary and designer carpet collections of the gallery, showcasing the splendid Iwan Maktabi design collections, along with various other award-winning designer collections.
CITY WALK Announces Plans to Unveil 60 New Tenants in Expanded Portfolio
30 new brands open doors to visitors in February 2016; Chic lifestyle destination to add trendy fashion stores, luxurious eateries and innovative entertainment venues
CITY WALK, the premier urban lifestyle destination by Meraas, a Dubai-based holding company, is set to welcome over 60 new tenants in 2016 comprising leading global brands, as well as innovative home-grown enterprises.
A key highlight of the new portfolio is the destination’s focus on presenting visitors with the best of local and global fashion brands such as Karl Lagerfeld, Diane Von Furstenberg, Maje, Serendipity3, Armani Exchange, M Missoni, Tory Burch, Coach, and many more.
The urban lifestyle destination will also witness the launch of an interesting local and international mélange of dining options, including restaurants with a Michelin-star lineage alongside idyllic social spaces and cafes.
Complementing the new retail and dining offerings, CITY WALK is set to open doors to an array of leisure and entertainment choices. This includes The Green Planet, the region’s first bio-dome recreating the enchanting world of a tropical forest with its rich biodiversity of over 3,000 plants and animals, and Mattel Play! Town, a magical, safe and interactive indoor ‘eduplay’ attraction themed around five popular children’s characters from Mattel, Geek Nation, one of the leading destinations for comic, movie and video game lovers in the region, and many more.
With the new additions, CITY WALK is set to comprise refined residential, entertainment, hospitality and wellness options in one integrated space, to complement the destination’s lifestyle personality. An area of almost one million square feet is dedicated to retail while the destination’s total built-up area will span more than 10 million square feet. To provide added convenience, the ample underground parking will offer 1,800 bays that are accessible through strategically located entry points.
Nestled between two of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods on Al Safa Street, in close proximity to Sheikh Zayed Road and the highly frequented Jumeirah Beach Road, CITY WALK is situated in a prime location offering an unobstructed view of Dubai’s world-famous and mesmerizing skyline. Through a conveniently connected street system with direct links to Dubai’s highway network, the master-plan establishes corridors to the city’s well-known landmarks.
FASHION STAR SHINES FOR DUBAI CHANNELS NETWORK
Fashion Star, the first-of-its-kind reality show on Arab TV channels, sets a brisk tone and momentum that keeps viewers tuned in each week. Produced by Dubai Channels Network, a part of Dubai Media Incorporated, Fashion Star showcases Arabic talent in the field of fashion design before internationally acclaimed icons of the fashion world including Reem Acra, Hanaa Ben Abdesslem, Ramzi Tabiat and TV presenter Leila bin Khalifa.
In the show’s format, every episode of Fashion Star has mentors Ramzi Tabiat, Hanaa Ben Abdesslem and the guest fashion expert awarding one point each to individual contestants, while Reem Acra has the privilege to award up to three points. Every participant requires four points to remain safe. Those that score less than four points are assigned to the Danger Zone.
At the culmination of every episode, three designers find themselves in the ‘Danger Zone’. The two mentors Ramzi Tabiat and Hanaa Ben Abdesslem are allowed to save just one designer from their respective teams. Senior mentor Reem Acra then makes the final decision on which designer must exit the show at the end of each episode.
In the grand finale of the 10 episode reality show, the final winner will receive a grand prize of AED500,000, as well as the opportunity to display and sell his/her designs on the website NAMSHI.COM.
Arabian Women Wanted for The Women’s Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition 2017
British Adventurers, Felicity Aston MBE and Julie Lewis looking for Arabian women from around the Gulf to answer the call to the North Pole and be roving ambassadors for cross-cultural dialogue between Arabian and European Women.
Currently Felicity and Jules have received hundreds of applications from European women for a place on the team. The challenge is now on to find more Arabian women from Kuwait, Saudi, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, and the UAE to apply for a place on this record making expedition of personal, national and global firsts. The selected applicants will undergo full training in Iceland this September and will also be part of endurance and cultural connections training in Oman prior to the main Expedition to the North Geographic Pole in April 2017.
To apply you do not need to be a super-human athlete. More important is a passion to travel to the high Arctic, enthusiasm for the cultural aims of the expedition and a willingness to work wholeheartedly to achieve the experience of a lifetime as a team. Felicity and Jules are very keen to hear from women who have a clear idea of how they will put their experiences as part of the expedition to good use when they return home and are looking for Arabian women from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience.
Anyone from seasoned adventurers to those with no previous experience of outdoor or adventurous activities are welcome to apply. Applications are open until the 31st March and Felicity and Jules would from more Arabian Women who are willing to lead by example and be role models for the next generation of leaders in the community and society as a whole.
To Apply go to: http://www.felicityaston.co.uk/new-page.
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