Dubai Calendar kicks off 2014 with January and February filled with food, music and sport

Dubai Calendar is today announcing that 2014 is off to a remarkable start with a diverse range of international and local gastronomic, music and sporting events set to wow the Emirate’s residents and visitors in January and February. Dubai Calendar, the Emirate’s one-stop resource for information on sporting, arts, culture and heritage, entertainment, culinary and community events, also confirmed that January and February will set the tone for the remainder of 2014 with a vibrant line-up of events confirmed throughout the year.

“2013 was an outstanding year, not only for events in Dubai, but for the Emirate as a whole,” said Hamad bin Mejren, Executive Director of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the department that oversees Dubai Calendar. “2014 is set to be even better. As illustrated in Dubai Calendar, we have established a dynamic and diverse calendar of year-round events that rival those of the greatest cities in the world. Events, such as those taking place in January and February, are a major contributing factor in attracting visitors to Dubai and a key pillar in our strategy to deliver the Vision for Tourism 2020.”

Kicking off 2014, and in keeping with the athletic spirit of the New Year, January will see a series of high-profile and community sporting events return to Dubai. On January 24th, local and international runners will put their endurance to the test as they take to Dubai’s roads as part of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. For sport-loving spectators, the 25th anniversary of the annual Omega Dubai Desert Classic 2014 brings together golf legends such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in January and February at the Emirates Golf Course. Sporting fever continues into February as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska, go head to head at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2014.

With a strong sporting start to the year, foodies and music lovers will find that Dubai Calendar’s February events are music to their ears, with the return of the much-anticipated Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival between February 13th and 20th, and the launch of the inaugural Dubai Food Festival on February 21st. Now in its 12th year, the eight-day Jazz Festival will welcome a host of high-profile international and local artists, that this year will include American Jazz icons Al Foster, Larry Carton, and Steve Grossman, UK singer-songwriter Olly Murs, and Grammy-award winning music legend Carlos Santana. Switching focus from the melodic to the mouthwatering, the new Dubai Food Festival is set to tempt the palates of the region’s gastronomes over 23 days in February and March as it brings together some of the Emirate’s highest profile food events for business and consumers including Gulfood and Taste of Dubai, as well as the inaugural editions of the Dubai Food Carnival and The Big Grill. “Dubai Calendar’s January and February events will set the tone for the remainder of 2014,” added Hamad bin Mejren. “It’s going to be an outstanding year for Dubai residents and visitors with a remarkable line up of Dubai Calendar events that are as vibrant, diverse and colorful as the Emirate itself. With this in mind, 2014 will not disappoint