Fridays at 7:30am, with the email

This Weekend

Four plans for Friday to Sunday and one to book ahead. The same guide as the Friday email, posted here the same morning.

Plans: 5
Guides: 1
Last checked: 25 Oct

Photo: @alserkalavenue

This Weekend #1

Bread, art and a night at the opera.

A bread festival in Al Quoz, a Sudanese painter at the Jameel, masks and canals at the Opera, and a night above Hatta Dam. Plus Design Week, which wants booking now.

Five plansChecked 25 Oct

All 5 plans, with the facts

Tap a name for the full entry, the booking link and the map.

Photo: @alserkalavenue

Food and culture, Saturday and Sunday

What The Food takes over Alserkal

The festival's fifth edition is about bread and salt: talks, chef-led workshops and a communal table in The Yard. Window runs a grill station on both days.

When: Sat 31 Oct & Sun 1 Nov
Price: Walk in. Workshops need booking
Book: Book on alserkal.online. Subko's bread workshop is Sat at 4pm

alserkal.online/what-the-food

Photo: Salah Elmur, Fire Behind the Mountain, 2025. Courtesy the artist

Art, opens Sunday

Salah Elmur opens at the Jameel

'Just as the Heart of a Mango is a Stone' gathers the Sudanese painter's work since 2018, with photographs from his family's studio in Khartoum.

When: Opening Sat 31 Oct, 5–8pm (RSVP). Open from Sun 1 Nov, to 14 Mar
Price: Open access. Register at the desk
Book: 12-minute walk from Al Jaddaf Metro (Green Line)

jameelartscentre.org

Photo: @dubaiopera

Stage, Thursday to Saturday

TITIZÉ at Dubai Opera

Compagnia Finzi Pasca's acrobatic theatre of Venetian masks, canals and mirrors. Ten performers, about 80 minutes, no interval.

When: Thu 29 – Sat 31 Oct, 2pm & 8pm
Price: From AED 275
Book: Book on dubaiopera.com. Tickets are non-refundable

dubaiopera.com

Photo: @habitascaravanhatta

A night away, any night

50 Airstreams above Hatta Dam

Our Habitas' first UAE stay: Airstreams with private decks facing the dam or the valley, a barrel sauna, a cold plunge, and fire-cooked Emirati food at Madar.

When: Open since 28 Sep
Price: From AED 1,200 a night
Book: Book on ourhabitas.com. Drive; kayak and hike on site

ourhabitas.com/caravan-hatta

Photo: @dubaidesignweek

Design, book now

The 12th edition fills d3 with installations, talks and workshops, from 3 to 8 November. Downtown Design, the fair, holds invite-only previews on 4 November and is open to all visitors from 5 to 8 November.

When: Tue 3 – Sun 8 Nov. The fair is open to all 5–8 Nov
Price: Festival: open entry. Downtown Design: AED 80 a day
Book: Valet across d3. Parking: 2 hours included, then AED 20/hr

dubaidesignweek.ae

From the editor

The first Friday guide started as a list of twenty candidates and ended as five. Each one had to have a date, a price and a way in that we could read on the organiser's own page that week. If it didn't, it was out, however good it sounded.

What gets cut says as much as what stays. For issue one we passed on Global Village, the Dubai Flea Market and the Halloween brunches, and kept a bread festival, a Sudanese painter's new show at the Jameel, an evening at the Opera and a night above Hatta Dam.

One plan is always for the week after, because the things worth doing in Dubai tend to need booking before Thursday.

How we pick a place →

The Friday email

The weekend, decided by Friday.

It lands at 7:30am on Friday. Four plans for the weekend and one to book before it goes, each with the price and how to get in. The free guides come with the welcome email.