After a year full of COVID-19, lockdowns and innumerable video calls, I was delighted to attend the Dubai Design Festival while on a business trip to Dubai. In terms of COVID-19 precautions, everyone wore masks, security staff temperature checked people’s wrists to enter indoor areas along with limits of maximum number of attendees.

It had been so long since I attended an event that I was extremely excited about just getting out! The novelty of video calling has long since worn off for me.

My 3 takeaways are below:  

1. MENA graduate show – This was a showcase of MENA graduates work with products displayed such as playful recycling messages on cans, recycling of date wastes, and solar powered lighting. More information can be found here: https://www.dubaidesignweek.ae/programme/2020/mena-grad-show/

2. Some countries exhibited country stands, in preparation for EXPO 2021 next year. Portugal, UK and Switzerland were all exhibiting. The most topical stand was the Swiss stand which featured a display of futuristic face masks as well as upcycled bags from truck tarpaulin that were very popular.

3. Finally there were also some design competitions including public seating that had to be 2 m apart (due to COVID-19) sponsored by the American Hardwood Association.