Most popular competitions in Dubai

Dubai is a city of opportunities. Whether it’s to showcase your creative talents, gain recognition for your work, or just have fun, there are some amazing competitions in Dubai that offer adults and kids opportunities to gain exposure and, of course, win prizes! If you’d like to know about some of the recurring competitions in Dubai that are popular with the residents, read on to find out the key details. 

POPULAR COMPETITIONS IN DUBAI 

Here are some of the most popular competitions in Dubai that is open to all residents of the UAE. 

STUDENT COMPETITIONS AT THE EMIRATES LIT FEST

Established back in 2009, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature or the Emirates Lit Fest is an annual festival that celebrates the art of the written and spoken word. Till date, the festival has hosted 185 authors from all over the world and welcomed over 44,000 visitors, making it one of the largest festivals of its kind in the region. The Emirates Lit Fest in Dubai has one goal and that is to promote the reading culture in the UAE by offering meet-and-greet sessions with renowned authors, interactive workshops, debates and some of the most challenging literary competitions in Dubai for reading enthusiasts and writers. 

Some of the popular student competitions in Dubai that are part of the Emirates Lit Fest include:

• The Story Writing Competition – A short story writing competition in Dubai for school and university students
• The Taaleem Award –  One of the most popular poetry-writing competitions in Dubai for students in school and university. 
• Chevron Readers’ Cup – A Dubai competition to test reading skills 
• Poetry For All  – A competition for students in Dubai to express their love for poetry. 

Apart from the above-mentioned Dubai competitions, there are two more prestigious competitions that are part of the festival which includes the Montegrappa Writing Prize where first-time writers from the GCC get the chance to have their unpublished manuscripts judged by a UK literary agent. There is also the Costa Debate, where writers can submit an argument for the debate topic and the submission for the best argument gets a prize.

DUBAI LYNX STUDENT COMPETITIONS

The first of its kind in the MENA region, Dubai Lynx is an exciting event aimed at bringing together the creative minds of the communications industry. This event hosts numerous student competitions where participants can showcase their talents in multiple aspects of media, including advertising, PR, communications and more. Winners of these competitions are bestowed with the Dubai Lynx awards by some of the leading professionals’ in the industry. 

Some of the competitions for students that are part of the Dubai Lynx 2020 edition include the Student Print Competition which challenges students to create a riveting print campaign. There is also the MBC Student Hack which challenges students to create a solution for a Corporate Social Responsibility brief, within just 24 hours. 

HAMDAN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD

If you have a passion for photography, the Hamdan International Photography Award is definitely one of the Dubai competitions worth enrolling in. It was initiated in 2011 under the patronage of the Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum to provide a platform for photographers to showcase their best work. This Dubai photography competition is actually one of the only internationally recognised photography competitions with the largest monetary award. For the most recent edition of this photography competition in Dubai, the grand prize was valued at a whopping USD 120K! 

MANSOOR BIN MOHAMMED SHORT FILM AWARD 

The Mansoor Bin Mohammed Short Film Award competition in Dubai which is Organised by the Community Development Authority (CDA) in Dubai, is for all the creatives who enjoy the art of film-making. This competition takes place annually and welcomes university students aged 18 to 30 years old to register their short films that shed light on human rights. In 2019, as part of the Year of Tolerance Initiative, the theme of this Dubai short film competition focused on subjects that promote the culture of peace, peaceful coexistence and tolerance. 

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL HOLY QURAN AWARD

Sponsored by the Government of Dubai, the Dubai International Holy Quran Award is a yearly competition that welcomes people from all over the world who excel in the memorisation of the Holy Quran. It was initiated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai to encourage younger generations to get more involved with their Islamic faith. This is one of the competitions in Dubai that takes place during Ramadan and is open to all ages.  

ART COMPETITIONS DURING DUBAI ART SEASON

The Dubai Art Season, which kicks off in March every year has the biggest collection of cultural art events in Dubai. It was introduced under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture). 

The Dubai Art Season, which usually runs throughout March and April, sees renowned festivals like the SIKKA Art Fair, DIFC Art Nights, World Art Dubai, Middle East Film & Comic Con and many more take centre stage. During this time, there are tons of competitions in Dubai for expats and citizen to take part in, across all creative fields. The most recent competition that was announced is the ‘Made in Al Quoz’ competition, which called on designers to envision a public seating design for the Al Quoz Creative District. Every year, the competitions are unique to the theme, so we recommend keeping an eye on Dubai Cultures’ website and social media handles to stay informed. 

RADIO COMPETITIONS IN DUBAI

Whether its concert tickets or dinner vouchers to your favourite restaurant, radio competitions are perfect for anyone looking for a fun and easy way to win prizes in Dubai. These competitions are even a great way to win big! Radio stations such as Virgin Radio (104.4), Dubai 92 (92.00) and Channel 4 Dubai (104.8) often host mega competitions where cash prizes worth AED 50k and even luxury apartments in Dubai have been given away to listeners. So the next time you’re in the car, make sure to tune into some of the best radio stations in Dubai and stand a chance to win! 

Those were some of the popular competitions that take place in Dubai. Have we missed any major Dubai competitions that you know of? Let us know in the comments below!

Apart from these, annual festivals like the Dubai Shopping Festival host some amazing raffle draws. Check out this guide to find out all about the DSF offers and competitions taking place right now.