Dubai Post 11: Sandance, it’s Like Mifflin on Sand

The Sandance festival occurs a few times throughout the year in Dubai. 

Sandance was the place to be on Friday night. 

Before I arrived to Dubai, I learned that a college friend of mine, Ozair, was also moving here.  Because he actually grew up in Dubai, he approached me with the idea of heading to Sandance, an outdoor concert located on the beach next to the Atlantis Resort.  He explained it was like Mifflin on the beach so how could I say no?  (It seemed so fitting given the weekend.)

For those who do not know, Dubai likes to spend money by making man made islands.  They started with the Palm Island (shaped like a palm tree) and have most recently made a set of islands known as the “World Islands” because it is shaped like the world, go figure.  The location of the Atlantis Resort (same Atlantis in the Bahamas) is at the very tip of the Palm Island.  Although I only saw the outside of the hotel, the entire resort looked stunning and I will make it a point to go back and explore.

A view of The Palm and The World Islands from space. 

In honor of Mifflin, Ozair and I wore our Badger gear. 

I did not care too much for the musical artists performing at Sandance as the main headliner was Fatboy Slim.  However, the music ended up being pretty good and the overall experience was incredible.  Throughout the night, Ozair, his friend Yousef and I interacted with many different people from all over the world.  The event itself was well coordinated with no lines at the bars or bathrooms which is always a major plus.  

The view of the Atlantis hotel.

The view of the concert with Atlantis in the background. 

The group of people we sat with in the Shisha pit. 

Rather than just having table service at Sandance, they have Shisha pits.  A group of people invited us over to their pit and I ended up having an hour long conversation with a married couple.  The wife was from Western Australia and the husband was from England.  That is something I find more and more common here: everyone is extremely nice and wants to talk you. 

All in all Sandance was a fantastic time.  If you find yourself in Dubai and there is a Sandance festival, I would highly recommend going.  Just make sure you take advantage of the drink deals or you will find yourself spending quite a bit of money. 

A view of Fatboy Slim.