We proclaim al fresco season officially open, as the Ripe Market moves outdoors again. Held at Dubai Police Academy Park on Umm Suqeim Road, the market is on every weekend until May 1.
Local vendors have always been at the heart of the market, but supporting home-grown brands seems more poignant than ever this year. "This season will involve more local makers and artisans," says Kelsey Labrou, marketing manager, Ripe Market. "We will host 16 farmers each week, where they will sell locally grown and made produce, such as fresh bread, meat, olives, olive oil, milk, dates, honey and labneh. This year has been tough on most farmers and we want to support them in any way that we can."
Support local at Ripe Market
On offer are products you'd be hard-pressed to find on supermarket shelves – Dima Al Sharif's vegetable jams, for instance. Al Sharif started her pickle and jam brand Mooneh in 2014.
“I realised that the best way to support farmers was to buy from them,” she says. “I wasn’t able to do so on a big scale, but then realised I could preserve their produce for longer in pickle form.”
Some of the products on Mooneh’s eclectic menu include eggplant jam, chilli jam and beetroot jam.
Also on the table are Emm Daniel’s savoury dips, which are free of preservatives, additives, gluten and dairy. Founded by Corinne Sfeir Shaiban, the brand has been selling garlic paste, black olive paste, spinach dip and celery pesto at the Ripe Market since 2017. “Ripe brings the community together and is the perfect platform to launch a business,” Shaiban says.
Fashion at Ripe Market
Fashion and beauty buyers can explore the central walkway, which will have local vendors selling everything from organic skincare and handcrafted leather bags to handmade jewellery and art. Ekadot Boutique, for example, sells clothes that combine comfort with urban style, with fabrics made from natural fibres. "This season, people can expect to find a lot of kimono fusion styles," says Valeria Baigacheva, founder of Ekadot Boutique.
Elsewhere, the Exotic Plant Souq will sell a wide selection of indoor and outdoor plants as well, and offer landscape services.
Activities at Ripe Market
Shopping aside, there will be plenty of things to see and do, courtesy of Dubai Police. These include pony rides, marching bands, supercar shows, community talks and safety demonstrations. Mascot Mansour will also be around to entertain children. Live music and free yoga classes are on offer, while open-mic nights come courtesy of a partnership with Dubai Music.
Children can explore the animal care centre's mini animal kingdom to interact with rescued animals, or take part in arts and craft activities. "We have also teamed up with Emirates Equestrian Centre, which will offer pony rides to the public, while sports complex Just Play will host paddle tennis and other fitness classes," says Labrou.
Food at Ripe Market
To alleviate your hunger pangs there are pop-ups by Australian joint Boston Lane serving toasties and coffee; vegan burgers from Jomo; and The Roost, which will serve free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free meat marinated for more than 40 hours and slow-cooked. Other food stalls include The Broth Lab, The Burger Stop, The Sweetie Shop, Pizza di Rocco, Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Kinz, La Patrona, Semisweet and Projeto Acai.
Anticipating more visitors than ever, Labrou says the market has teamed up with Dubai Police to ensure Covid-19 standards and procedures are adhered to.
Ripe Market Dubai is open 9am-7pm on Fridays and 10am-7pm on Saturdays. Ripe Market Abu Dhabi will resume early next year, organisers say
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Usain Bolt's time for the 100m at major championships
2008 Beijing Olympics 9.69 seconds
2009 Berlin World Championships 9.58
2011 Daegu World Championships Disqualified
2012 London Olympics 9.63
2013 Moscow World Championships 9.77
2015 Beijing World Championships 9.79
2016 Rio Olympics 9.81
2017 London World Championships 9.95
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
West Indies v England ODI series:
West Indies squad: Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas.
Fixtures:
1st ODI - February 20, Bridgetown
2nd ODI - February 22, Bridgetown
3rd ODI - February 25, St George's
4th ODI - February 27, St George's
5th ODI - March 2, Gros Islet
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMascotte%20Health%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMiami%2C%20US%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bora%20Hamamcioglu%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOnline%20veterinary%20service%20provider%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%241.2%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five pillars of Islam
MATCH INFO
Iceland 0 England 1 (Sterling pen 90 1)
Man of the match Kari Arnason (Iceland)
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Scoreline
Australia 2-1 Thailand
Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
