Even though we had pre planned our Thursday evening for a play date, a quick glance through Instagram pictures immediately led us to StreetCon on its very first day and had us return again the next day. So much power to the social media, yay! As a child, I have always loved accompanying my parents and aunts to open space exhibitions and local art festivals where we always marveled the work of artists, walked for hours and enjoyed good food as opposed to staying indoors. That is probably one of the reasons I don’t miss fiestas like these when they show up even now.
What? – If you are already not aware, then Street Art Connection (Street Con in short) is an annual ten day fest stretching from 23rd April to 2nd May 2015 to celebrate everything related to music, arts and culture.
Where? – Right outside Al Ghurair Centre if you find the street occupied and buzzing with loud music, wall paintings and the works, be sure you are at the right place! The StreetCon is spread over two sections – the one close to Rayhaan by Rotana (near entrance 4) and the other opposite to mall entrance 2.
Why you should attend? – Dubai is one city, I feel, that is always coming up with events to keep the residents entertained throughout the year. I was very much in awe of Al Ghurair’s DubFest that happened in March this year and if you have missed that then StreetCon is one community festival you should not fail to attend as it is one ideal opportunity to catch up with local or International artists performing live for you. Since there are more than 20 artists getting involved to promote various art activities, you can imagine the abundance of talent there is at one place!
Parking – Though traffic could get on your nerves and parking may become a delayed process as we all know how inconvenient all this in Deira is, it is best to take a public transport or park your car in the mall building. If you fancy taking a metro then Al Ghurair Centre is approximately 10 minutes walking distance from Salah Al Din Station (Green Line).
What we saw in two days? – On the first day, to our welcome was a street full of stalls (selling local and handmade products), lamps hanging above our heads, skate ramp, 3D wall and floor art and colorful bike display prepping up for the days to come.
Slightly after few minutes, we caught Mosley Wotta drawing a graffiti and later in the evening heard him rap brilliantly on the music stage. The public well deservedly screamed for “once more” and the man so humbly obliged to the audience’s request! Check out his 15 seconds video here on my Instagram.
As we walked further to mall entrance 2, we stopped and gaped at the fact what a hub of talent this little street is. The DubFest had Home Bakery and Brooklyn Bros food trucks parked outside the mall, so I secretly wished to find the same at Street Con as well. However, to my pleasant surprise was newly built Moti Roti truck in all its Indianized glamour hedged close to Mr Sugarcane stall. It was very early for dinner yet hard to miss out eating in street style, so we gladly munched on splendidly crunchy Onion Bhaji Rings from Moti Roti and sweet spicy mango chutney made a perfect accompaniment to our snack.
One of the main attraction of StreetCon is Miracoco – especially for kids. At first it looks much like a bouncy castle but be surprised when you step inside. Miracoco is a luminary structure – a maze of paths and built-in colored domes emitting reflection from outside (red, blue and green) inspired very much by Islamic architecture. Miracoco supposedly awakens all the senses of the body and you really got to be in it to believe it. This is the only place where an entry in allowed by ticket – priced at AED 20 for adults and AED 10 for children 16 years and below (free for 0-3 year) it definitely is a steal deal.
After rescheduling a couple of hours further and having us waited until after 8.30 pm, we were very disappointed when Miracoco was not made open to public on Thursday (because of technical glitches) even though they announced on social media that it may start from day 1. Despite all that, we returned back on Friday with equal enthusiasm.
Seated ouside Miracoco, is a band of Dubai Drums cleverly circled by stools with a drum on top of each so as they signal, those around can sit and play African beats on the instructions. This was one interactive session we totally loved – how often would we get a chance like this. Each session last for about 20 mins and are at an interval of one hour. Check out this Instagram video of Little A playing to the tunes as the head drummer brief the public on African music played during the harvest season.
Before taking a leave we wrapped up the whole experience with fresh sugarcane juice from Mr Sugarcane. The stall isn’t new to me as I first encountered them at Dubai Food Carnival and know their quality standard; and was so pleased to find them again at StreetCon – perfect to fight Dubai’s humidity.
On day 2, we also got around to some wall art on wooden blocks already marked by an artist. Little A filled in the colors and it was a part of wall graffiti the public could paint themselves using their own imagination.
I love street festivals – there is so much to learn, grasp, support and educate one self of the talent that is abiding in the city. If you have children, please ditch the malls and head over to StreetCon happening right now at Al Ghurair till the weather is still greatly forgiving. This isn’t a sponsored post in any kind, so be rest assured all the opinions and views are unbiased and from an experience. These are just the few artists we could watch in 2 days for a couple of hours we were at the fest; although there are artists displaying their work until midnight of 2nd May- from painting, music, cultural to handmade items, do not miss out on the opportunity.
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