When it comes to retail, leisure, and dining in UAE, Dubai Festival City is among the most recommended places that you must include in your travel itinerary, especially if you are visiting Dubai with your kids.
The key highlight in this must-visit Dubai destination is the Dubai Festival City Mall. It offers more than 400 retail shops, dining establishments, and entertainment options that your family will surely enjoy. So make sure to spend a day or two, not just for shopping in Dubai, but also for experiencing some of the world’s best attractions in the mall.
To help you create an itinerary, here are the seven most sought-after activities you should not miss in Dubai Festival City Mall.
1. Go shopping
Dubai Festival City Mall features local and international brands that include high street retail shops, department stores, and luxury fashion outlets catering to consumers’ different demands.
Here are some of the top shops you need to check out in Dubai Festival City Mall.
Fashion brands
Some of the world’s high-end fashion brands are available at the mall.
- Marks & Spencer
- Zara
- H&M
- DKNY
- Diesel
- G2000
- Fred Perry
- Eleganza La Mode
- Giordano
- Jockey
- Levis
- Khaadi
- Tommy Hilfiger
Footwear and accessories
Your footwear and accessories are as essential as the clothes you wear to achieve your best everyday look. A number of shops sell footwear and accessories in the mall.
- Aldo
- Charles & Keith
- Shoe Mart
- Nine West
- Shoe Studio
- Tamaris
- Vincci
- K Corner
- Kenkoh
Cosmetics
Health and beauty products will give you that final touch that suits your clothing and accessories. Some of the highly preferred cosmetics brands have an outlet in the mall.
- MAC Cosmetics
- The Face Shop
- The Body Shop
- Sephora
- Make Up Forever
- Kiehl’s
- Bomb Cosmetics
- Bath and Body Works
Toys and sports
The mall also offers a number of shops featuring sporting goods and toys for you and your kids.
- Adidas
- Nike
- Skechers
- Under Armour
- The Athlete’s Foot
- Toys R Us
- Build-A-Bear Workshop
- Early Learning Centre
You could also visit the following shops:
- IKEA – a Swedish company specialising in home furnishing products that are well-designed and functional.
- Carrefour – a hypermarket for grocery shopping, offering goods from top brands all year-round.
- ACE – a hardware store offering everything related to the house, including household appliances, garden tools, safety equipment, lighting units, and furniture.
2. Take an Abra ride
The Festival City Mall has a small waterfront area called the Festival City bay. A trending attraction at this bay that you must not miss is the abra ride, which is an Emirati ferry boat. The ride runs between the mall and Dubai Creek metro station. You can also opt for a dhow dinner cruise to witness the majestic views of the Dubai Festival City after sunset.
3. Watch the IMAGINE laser show
IMAGINE is a show worth watching when you are in Dubai. It features a dancing fountain accompanied by sound effects, music, and light. It also uses pyro techniques to add more interest to the show.
If the weather is too hot outside, you can watch IMAGINE while sitting in the mall’s food court enjoying your food. There are also holograms placed strategically in the Festival City Lake so you can watch the show comfortably from whichever vantage point.
4. Spend some fun time at Fabyland
Fabyland is an entertainment hub where your family can have an enjoyable time together. It offers a lot of attractions to keep everyone engaged and happy.
Some of the attractions you should try at Fabyland include:
- Mini Discovery – it features outward-facing seats that spin around at extreme heights.
- Drop N Twist Tower – experience a thrilling ride in a gondola that will take you to the top before suddenly decelerating mid-way, thus causing several bounces.
- Flume Ride – hop on a water slide that dashes down into a pool.
- Clip N Climb – a thrilling ride that propels up and down.
- Energy Leap – a thrilling ride that involves multiple twists and turns, sending shivers down the spine.
- Air Racer – experience the fun and thrill of an aerobatic aircraft.
- Top Dancer – a swing that takes you 360-degree in an arc.
- Jumping Star – a ride that lifts you at a certain height before descending in a quick series of short drops.
- Family Swing – a hydraulic lift that pulls the seat upwards to make you feel like you’re flying.
In addition to these thrilling rides, Fabyland also offers action-packed gaming arcades, including racing and video games.
5. Turn your pilot dreams into reality at Dream Aero
Dream Aero features a flight simulator that mimics all the aspects of an actual flight. You can control the flight, fly from the ground, and even choose your flight route.
Anyone can be a pilot at Dream Aero. You will be guided by a trained aviator who’ll teach you the basic flight elements, like taking off, following a flight path, and landing during your flight experience . There will also be an introductory demonstration that covers information you need to know, including informative aviation anecdotes, so you will get things right.
The flight experience is a must-try for aspiring aviators or anybody who wants to experience how it feels to navigate an aircraft. Dream Aero can accommodate up to three people.
6. Bounce non-stop at BOUNCE-X
BOUNCE-X is an indoor trampoline park for kids of all ages and even adults. It is designed to make freestyle sports accessible to everybody. To ensure child safety, it has a dedicated area for kids to play and explore.
BOUNCE-X offers a vast space for freestyling. Anyone can join in the fun. Beginners can learn how to do moves like the backflip, backdrop, leisure drive, barani, vault, straddle jump, and other freestyle manoeuvres from veterans.
Obstacle courses include ninja courses, trapezes, slides, giant airbags, dodgeball area with basketball hoops, an infinity wall, and freerun area.
As for kids, some activities they can enjoy include a mini climbing wall, small trampolines, funnel ball, climb and slide tower, soft play area, and climbing features. Expert supervision at the kids section ensures arena safety for budding freestylers.
7. Explore Bricobilandia
Bricobilandia is a new attraction at Dubai Festival City Mall. It is a Toy City made of plastic bricks where your kids can have fun while you do some shopping. Here, they can play and build anything they want.
Bricobilandia is a play area with mini-figures of buildings, police and fire stations, restaurants, an amusement park, cargo trains, and fairy castles. It even offers popular sets, including Hogwarts Castle, The Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, and Maersk Train.
A visit to Dubai Festival City Mall is definitely a must if you’re travelling to Dubai anytime soon. It is not only a shopper’s paradise but a destination for family fun as well.
And to ensure that everything goes as planned, check the mall’s schedule of events and secure your tickets as early as possible. Also, check out Dubai Festival City apartments for rent if you’re looking to relocate to this fabulous emirate in the UAE.
