Dubai Summer Surprises 2002 kicked off last month with the opening of Food Surprises.
Food Surprises, the first of the 10 themed weeks in the annual shopping and entertainment extravaganza, opened with a burst of colour, light, pyrotechnics and the aroma of freshly cooked food wafting through the air at the Bur Juman Centre. The event was officially opened by Shaikh Saeed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with the ceremonial cutting of a giant vanilla cake. Food Surprises involved a variety of cooking competitions and contests, the longest vegetable sushi roll, a giant tower made from bread, an international food village featuring delicious cuisine from the world over as well as live demonstrations with chefs from the emirate's leading hotels displaying their cooking skills. The DSS which continues until August 30 will feature about 250 events, under the theme "Big Fun for Little Ones". Besides Food Surprises and Water Surprises which were feature events for the first two weeks of this year's DSS, the event will include Global Surprises (July 4 to 10); Ice Surprises (July 11 to 17); Flower Surprises (July 18 to 24); Sports Surprises (July 25 to 31); Heritage Surprises (August 1 to 7); Art Surprises (August 8 to 14); Techno Surprises (August 15 to 21) and Back to School Surprises (August 22 to 30). Global Surprises, being organised by the Dubai Ports and Customs Authority aims to highlight festival traditions of the world and will showcase mini-carnivals of these traditions in the shopping malls of Dubai. Some of the most important festival traditions of the world include those from Brazil, Spain, the US, China, the UK, India, Russia and a few Arab nations. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) which is organising Ice Surprises has this year increased its budget from Dh1.6 million ($435,790) to Dh2 million. It will feature a variety of activities with Sindbad Adventures and Journey to Eskimo Land topping the bill.