TimeOut Dubai Kids – August 2019

Free things to do

Time Out UAE Kids August 2019 19

Marvel at The Dubai Fountain

dancing to Baby Shark

Even the most hardened of Dubai dwellers

can’t help but be blown away by the musical

dancing fountain, and to do so won’t cost you

a dirham. Designed by the same team behind

the famous Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas,

The Dubai Fountain is more than 900ft in

length and shoots water into the air to a

range of different songs, from classical to

Baby Shark...

O Sat-Thu 1pm & 1.30pm; Fri 1.30pm & 2pm; daily

6pm-11pm (every 30 mins) next to The Dubai Mall

& Burj Khalifa, Downtown Dubai.

Shark-spotting at Dubai Aquarium

and Underwater Zoo

Housing more than 1,200 shops, restaurants,

pop-ups, cafés, stalls and retailers, Dubai Mall

is one of the largest buildings on the planet.

It’s not all shopping however and there is

so much to see and do for the whole family

including a huge aquarium and underwater

zoo with a two-storey high glass wall where

you can spot sharks, manta rays and even

rare, endangered sawÀsh, without spending

a penny. Winning. There’s also an

Olympic-sized ice rink and an enormous

waterfall for kids to observe.

O Downtown Dubai (800 382246255) Sun-Wed 10am-

11pm; Thu-Sat 10am-midnight.

Soak up street art

Karama, City Walk, La Mer, even Metro station

pillars... Street art is popping up all over

Dubai (and lately in Sharjah, too). These free

open-air galleries adorn car parks, residential

buildings, walls, Áoors and ceilings. Some of

the world’s top artists have descended on

Dubai to leave their mark. Check online for a

full guide of where and what to see. Various

locations across Dubai.

O City Walk, Al Safa Street; Karama Souk, Karama;

2nd December Street, Satwa.

Take the family to see the IMAGINE

show at Dubai Festival City

Kids will go crazy for this spectacular show of

lasers, lights, fountains, mega video displays

and a huge sound system. IMAGINE at Dubai

Festival City is one of the top free attractions

in Dubai. Surprise live performances are

thrown in on special occasions, too. There are

four shows on the hour every hour in the week

and Àve on weekend evenings.

O Sun-Thu 7pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 7pm-11pm.

Dubai Festival City, dubaifestivalcity.com.

Museums

A history lesson at the

Camel Museum

This building was originally used as a camel

stable for the sheikhs. The building was

restored to become a museum explaining

the history and prominence of camels in the

Middle East. Kids will love the impressive

camel skeleton.

O Sun-Thu 8am-2pm; Fri closed. Al Shindagha Historical

Area, Bur Dubai (04 392 0368).

Explore Dubai’s oldest building

Built in 1787, the Al Fahidi Fort is the oldest

building in Dubai. It became the Dubai

Museum almost 50 years ago. Its crumbling

walls are vastly different from the city the

world knows today. While it’s free to walk

around (as are the busy souks nearby) entry

to the museum costs just Dhs3, with its vast

maze of underground galleries featuring some

intriguing dioramas of Dubai in days gone by,

from the merchants in the souks to the pearl

Àshers, as well as fascinating ancient maps,

illustrating just how much Dubai has grown.

Find out why

camels were so

important to

early UAE life

The Dubai Fountain

Camel Museum

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