Dubai دبي Metropolis

Dubai Shopping Festival[edit]
Dubai Shopping Festival is a yearly event in Dubai, It started in 1995, attracts a lot of visitors from worldwide to visit Dubai and get advantage of the sales during this festival.
In 2015 it started from January 1, till February 1, but The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai announced the cessation of all entertainment and musical activities related to the Dubai Shopping Festival for 3 days, starting from Friday, January 23 to Sunday, January 25 due to the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz former ruler of Saudi Arabia.^[190]
Dubai Shopping Festival 2016 will begin on 1 January 2016 till 1 February 2016.^[191]
Media[edit]
Main article: Dubai Media Incorporated
See also: List of media outlets in Dubai Media City and Radio and television channels of Dubai

View of Etisalat Tower from Zabeel Park

Dubai Media City
Many international news agencies such as Reuters, APTN, Bloomberg L.P. and Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) operate in Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City. Additionally, several local network television channels such as Dubai One (formerly Channel 33), and Dubai TV (EDTV) provide programming in English and Arabic respectively. Dubai is also the headquarters for several print media outlets. Dar Al Khaleej, Al Bayan and Al Ittihad are the city's largest circulating Arabic language newspapers,^[192] while Gulf News, Khaleej Times and 7DAYS are the largest circulating English newspapers.^[193]
Etisalat, the government-owned telecommunications provider, held a virtual monopoly over telecommunication services in Dubai prior to the establishment of other, smaller telecommunications companies such as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC—better known as Du) in 2006. Internet was introduced into the UAE (and therefore Dubai) in 1995. The current network has an Internet bandwidth of 7.5 Gbit/s with capacity of 49 STM1 links.^[194] Dubai houses two of four Domain Name System (DNS) data centres in the country (DXBNIC1, DXBNIC2).^[195] Censorship is common in Dubai and used by the government to control content that it believes violates the cultural and political sensitivities of Emirates.^[196] Homosexuality, drugs, and the theory of evolution are generally considered taboo.^[179][197]
Internet content is regulated in Dubai. Etisalat uses a proxy server to filter Internet content that the government deems to be inconsistent with the values of the country, such as sites that provide information on how to bypass the proxy; sites pertaining to dating, gay and lesbian networks, and pornography; and sites originating from Israel.^[198] Emirates Media and Internet (a division of Etisalat) notes that as of 2002, 76% of Internet users are male. About 60% of Internet users were Asian, while 25% of users were Arab. Dubai enacted an Electronic Transactions and Commerce Law in 2002 which deals with digital signatures and electronic registers. It prohibits Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from disclosing information gathered in providing services.^[199] The penal code contains official provisions that prohibit digital access to pornography; however, it does not address cyber crime or data protection.^[200]
Sports[edit]
Main article: List of sports venues in Dubai
See also: Traditional sports in the United Arab Emirates

Dubai Tennis Stadium
Football and cricket are the most popular sports in Dubai. Five teams (Al Wasl FC, Al-Ahli Dubai, Al Nasr SC, Al Shabab Al Arabi Club and Dubai Club) represent Dubai in UAE Pro-League.^[179] Al-Wasl have the second-most number of championships in the UAE League, after Al Ain. Dubai also hosts both the annual Dubai Tennis Championships and The Legends Rock Dubai tennis tournaments, as well as the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament and the Dubai World Championship, all of which attract sports stars from around the world. The Dubai World Cup, a thoroughbred horse race, is held annually at the Meydan Racecourse. Dubai also hosts the traditional rugby union tournament Dubai Sevens, part of theSevens World Series. In 2009, Dubai hosted the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Auto racing is also a big sport in Dubai, theDubai Autodrome is home to many auto racing events throughout the year. Cycling became one of the biggest sports in the UAE^{[citation needed]} and Fun Ride Sports focus on cycling events and to be at all the races to provide world class events.
Cricket[edit]
Cricket is followed by Dubai's large community of Indians and Pakistanis alongside the residents from other cricket playing nations (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England, Australia and South Africa). In 2005, the International Cricket Council (ICC) moved its headquarters from London to Dubai. The city has hosted several Pakistan matches and two new grass grounds are being developed in Dubai Sports City. Numerous tournaments also take place in Dubai.^[201] Since Pakistan played Australia in a One-Day International in Dubai in 2009, not only have top international teams competed in the city, but the emirate is helping to improve the standard of cricket around the world with the ICC Cricket Academy, a training and coaching facility which is used by the world’s leading nations.
Education[edit]