DUBAI, 9 October 2007 — From plain white charity tents set up by local mosques to glitzy marquees, Dubai comes alive at night during Ramadan.
Thousands of foreign workers queue up each afternoon to get a free meal at a charity tent, while on the other side of the Gulf hub the rich stream into five-star hotels for lavish buffets, water-pipes and live music under canvas.
Inside the souk-style marquee of Diwan Al-Khayal at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, crowds while away the evening as a live band plays Damascene music under red and green lights.
Some play cards or smoke water-pipes while dozens of waiters struggle to weave their way around the crowded tables.
Sunset brings on the nightly “Iftars” when the fast is broken and the feast is on. People invite family and friends to break bread together and put their feet up, as well as help feed the poor during a month devoted to piety, reflection and charity.
The online city planner www.timeoutdubai.comØdubai carried as many as 46 adverts for hotel marquees and buffets around Dubai under the headline “Your Ultimate Iftar Guide”.
“We come here almost every night after we eat Iftar at home,” said an Emirati woman at the Jumeirah Beach who gave her name as Jawaher. She was eating Kinafa — a dessert like a cheesecake topped with syrup and pistachio nuts — and drinking Turkish coffee. Tables around her were laden with dishes like houmous, tabbouleh, fried shrimps and Calamari. “We stay here until sahour,” she said, referring to the meal before the fast begins at dawn.
Going to marquees during Ramadan has caught on in a place where people are looking for a way to enjoy their evenings and escape the hot and humid coastal weather. “We can’t stand the heat outside and it’s a nice atmosphere for a change,” said Rami Khader, a Lebanese who works in Dubai.
The entry fee for higher-end hotel venues can average $50-$100 per person per night and hotels vie for the unofficial title of “best tent of the year”.
Fine Persian rugs greet people heading to the luxury air-conditioned marquee at Dubai’s landmark Burj Al-Arab hotel.
Over 80 percent of Dubai’s population are foreigners, ranging from poor laborers to expatriates on fat salaries and expense accounts. Many are Muslims, but even non-Muslims often get into the holiday spirit.
“There are just too many options; we cannot decide where to go any more,” said Rana Khalil, a Palestinian who works in Dubai. “There is always a tent race when Ramadan begins, despite their high prices — and people are loving it.”
On the other side of town Omar Hussain, who works as a porter, attends an Iftar at a crude plain white tent, with no air-conditioning. Dozens of fellow workers wait outside.
He said he was lucky to get in: Many of the hundreds of thousands of poor laborers who are building Dubai’s famous sky-scrapers flock to charity tents during Ramadan.
They start queuing around six every evening to go in for food usually donated by rich Muslims. Those meals usually consist of water, dates, yoghurt, salad, rice and meat. “I am lucky, I always come early to find a place, too many people come here,” he said. “I have no home, I have no family here. This tent is good.”
