Dubai Shopping Festival

Take a moment to imagine a festival dedicated to one of the most popular past times for women all over the world. That’s right ladies, a month long festival revolving around shopping, including discounts, entertainment and much much more!In 1996, the travel industry created the Dubai Shopping festival as a means to increase tourism, drawing people from around the world to Dubai. Today it has become a shopping/ entertainment mega event showcasing what cooperation between the private and public sectors can achieve.

With over 2,300 retail outlets offering their cooperation through tax free shopping and extreme discounts of up to 50% on big name brands, including Versace and Guess, as well as couture, cars, electronics, handicrafts and gold this event is not to be missed by shopaholics world wide.

There are many other events that also take place within the festival including fashion shows, children’s events, nightly fireworks, film festivals and cultural events that reflect the Emirates character. The Dubai World Cup also takes place within the festival, which is the richest horse race in the world with a staggering $12 million purse.

Some of the major features of the Dubai Shopping Festival include:

Dubai Fashion Week

Bringing together regional and international players this showcases Dubai-based designers to a global audience.

Desert Camp

The Dubai Shopping Festival Desert Camp offers adventure activities including camel rides and horse riding, exhilarating attractions for the whole family to experience.

Food Festival

The food festival during the event allows visitors to satisfy their taste buds with delicious cuisines including Chinese, Italian, French and of course Arabic delights. This includes cooking workshops; live cooking counters and many interactive elements.

The Carnival

This spectacular parade with performances from acrobats, percussionists, dancers and international artists is done in true Emirates style with colour, extravagant costumes, lighting and music. The carnival is held in different platforms each with a different cultural theme and they are held every weekend within the festival.

With over 3.35 million people visiting during last year Dubai Shopping Festival, with an expenditure of $2.6 billion it seems this festival was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.

World Wide Party: Crazy Christmas Traditions

Christmas is a special time for people all over the world, it is a time of giving & receiving and celebrating with loved ones. Here are our top 10 favourite crazy Christmas traditions from all over the world. So while you're tucking into the turkey, spare a thought for these crazy people....

1. The Ghost of Christmas Past

During the Portuguese Christmas Feast called 'Consoda' it is customary for extra places to be set at the table for deceased loved ones so they don't miss out on the Christmas fun. As well as leading to spirited conversations, this tradition is thought to bring good fortune to the family in future years!

2. Icy Dips

One of the most famous places to go for an icy dip on Christmas Day is Brighton Beach on the South Coast of England. Nothing like an ice-cold way to start the day!

3. Caga Tio

This is by far the craziest tradition that we came across. Caga Tio (which translates to defecating log) is a bizarre Catalonian tradition. Families create a character out of a small log, complete with a smiling face and a hat. This log sits on their dining room tables for 2 weeks in the lead-up to Christmas. The log is fed every day with nuts, fruits and chocolates. On Christmas Eve the entire family beats the log with sticks while singing traditional songs, forcing the log to excrete its treats....

4. Bavarian Blast
On Christmas Eve, it is a tradition for Bavarian highlanders (decked in local dress) to fire volleys with their hand held mortars in the village of Schoenau, Southern Germany, to salute the Christmas holidays.

5. Fiery Christmas Traditions

In Southern Louisiana families light hundreds of bonfires along the river banks every Christmas Eve. They believe that 'Papa Noel' won't be able to find their homes unless he has fire to light the way.

6. Krampus
St Nick's evil accomplice Krampus is a demon-like creature who roams the streets of Austria and punishes bad children. Men dress up as Krampus and frighten little ones during local parades.

7. Christmas in Caracas

It is a Venezuelan tradition to travel to early morning Church services on roller skates. Roads are cleared to provide Christmas worshippers with a safe passage.

8. Carnival in Cuba
The streets of Remedios in Cuba are filled with festival-goers every Christmas Eve. The 'Parrandas' is a 200 year old tradition that was founded by local priests. They would send the Altar Boys to the streets every year to bang pots and pans together to keep the locals awake for Midnight Mass. Nowadays there are parades and fireworks.

9. A Brooming Good Christmas
Norwegians believe that Christmas Eve coincides with the arrival of evil spirits and Witches. Logically, therefore, households will hide all of their brooms before they go to sleep.

10. Christmas Bugs
A popular Ukranian Christmas decoration is a spider's web. It is believed that there was a poor woman who couldn't afford decorations for her tree, but when she woke in the morning a spider had covered her tree with a glorious sparkling web.

And here are a couple more we've thrown in because it's Christmas.....

11. Booted
Czech women perform a simple ritual over the Christmas period to determine the success of their love lives in the future year. They stand with their backs to the door and hurl a boot over their shoulders. If the boot lands with the toe pointing towards the door, they will be wed within the year.

12. A Heated Family Affair
On Christmas Eve it is customary for Estonian families to head to the sauna together. This activity is repeated on New Year's Eve and Midsummer's Eve.

World Wide Party: Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to ya'll!

Thanksgiving is not just American tradition, it is also observed by Canada, Norfolk Islands, Liberia, Leiden (Netherlands) and Puerto Rico.

Thanksgiving in North America originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. The early settlers celebrated Thanksgiving as an act of gratitude to God for their new life and the end of their harvest season.

The earliest authenticated celebration was the one in September 1565, in Florida. The Native Americans were deeply pious, and the tradition is carried through to today and is even celebrated by the non-religious.

It’s a day of eating turkey and pumpkin pie and to celebrate the holiday season with loved ones. A wonderful family affair!!

Rayne Frog Festival - November

This month frog lovers will be flocking to the town of Rayne in Louisiana for the annual Frog Fest. 

Rayne became known as the "Frog Capital of the World" in 1880 when it began supplying frogs legs by the bucket load to some of America's finest restaurants.

Festival activities include the Miss Tadpole pageant, frog races, frog jumping contests, carnival rides, parades and a diaper derby.

As well as partaking in the frog games, festival goers can also dine on cajun frogs legs... the culinary speciality of the region.

So if you're looking for a 'ribbiting' event, drop into the Rayne Frog Festival this November!

Check out their website for more information.

Just for Laughs

This week we head over to CANADA to feature the famous month long comedy show - Just for Laughs Festival also known as 'Juste pour rire' in French.

The festival began in 1983 as a 2-day event but today it operates as a month long comedy festival showcasing French-speaking performers during the first half and English speakers in the second half of the month. The event also has a number of international and non-verbal acts throughout the program. Aussie comedians Carl Barron & Will Anderson are regular performers. The festival has a rather funny looking mascot called 'Victor' (pictured).

If you're trying to avoid the Australian winter head over to Canada for the Just for Laughs Festivals and soak up the sun!