Dubai Festival City Mall

Dubai Festival City Mall is the main shopping centre of Dubai Festival City, a large mixed-use development by Al-Futtaim on the eastern bank of Dubai Creek, about two kilometres from Dubai International Airport. The district also includes hotels, homes, a marina and a golf course.

The mall opened in the mid-2000s and was later expanded and renovated. It now has more than 400 shops, restaurants and entertainment outlets, making it one of the larger malls in the city.

Shops range from a large IKEA store and an ACE home store to fashion, electronics and a hypermarket. The mall has a multiplex cinema and family entertainment areas. Its waterfront promenade along Festival Bay is lined with restaurants and cafes with outdoor terraces. Each evening the IMAGINE show uses water fountains, lasers, projections and fire on the bay, and it is free to watch from the promenade. The InterContinental and Crowne Plaza hotels stand next to the mall, and there are views across the creek to the city skyline.

The mall is a good choice for visitors staying near the airport or in Deira, and it is generally less crowded than the malls of Downtown and Dubai Marina.

Entry is free and the mall opens daily from morning until late evening. Creek Metro station on the Green Line and a free shuttle serve the area, along with ample parking.

How big is Dubai Festival City? The whole district covers about 526 hectares. Work began in 2003, the first phase opened in late 2005 and the Festival Waterfront Centre, the core of today's mall, opened in March 2007. The mall has a gross leasable area of about 230,000 square metres, and the waterfront promenade along the creek and bay runs for about 3.3 kilometres.

IMAGINE was launched on Festival Bay in December 2016 and holds a Guinness World Record for its combination of water, light and projection. The three hotels beside the mall, InterContinental Dubai Festival City, Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City and InterContinental Residence Suites, together have more than 1,600 rooms. Festival Arena, a 7,200-square-metre events hall, hosts concerts, exhibitions and award nights.