And so the madness begins. One Direction fever is officially upon us – with 45 days to go until the band’s gig in Dubai, a 1D “pop-up shop” is about to open in the city.
As the hype machine step up a gear, the temporary store will be in Dubai Mall for nine days from Friday February 20, giving fans a limited time to snap up dozens of exclusive products that organisers say will be unavailable anywhere else.
The shop – which has already visited 20 cities around the world, from New York to Sydney – will pack up on Saturday February 28 and move on to it’s next location.
The 36 exclusive products on offer include 12 T-shirt designs, posters, and the top seller – life-size cut-outs of each band member.
Best of all, customers will have a shot at winning one of five pairs of Diamond standing tickets to the band’s sell-out concert at the Sevens Stadium on April 4.
The store will be on the ground floor of Dubai Mall, near the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo.
Thomas Ovesen, the chief operating officer of concert promoters Done Events, said: “We are thrilled to be able to offer Middle East ‘Directioners’ another unique 1D opportunity.”
The 32,000-capacity gig sold out in record time when tickets went on sale last summer, and the concert is set to be the biggest ever seen in the region.
The band is stopping off in Dubai as part of its On The Road Again 2015 tour, which is currently in Australia.
The boys – Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – will travel though Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa before arriving in the UAE.
rgarratt@thenational.ae
