Find out what’s cooking at Dubai Food Festival

Get ready to loosen your belt Dubai. The month-long Dubai Food Festival kicks off on Friday, February 6. If you're wondering how to navigate the festival, we've got your covered.

The Dubai Food Festival offers three chances to dine with a chef while cruising on the Dubai Creek. Photos courtesy Dubai Food Festival

Cultural spread

Made in Dubai, which highlights Emirati food, hospitality and culture, is new this year. On February 27 and 28 at Zabeel Park.

Or check out Urban Farm, a free event with more than 10 stalls dishing up Middle Eastern cuisine. At Bur Dubai Creek on February 28, from 10am to 10pm.

Food trucks and pop-up shops

The Beach Canteen, a popular event that made its debut at last year’s festival, returns with 11 home-grown eateries doling out food from shipping containers set up along Kite Beach in Jumeirah.

A food truck convoy – a festival first – will see nine trucks serving up signature food on the street from February 8-26 from 11.30am to 4pm (weekdays only). The convoy of trucks will be at different locations of the city on different days.

For all the family

The Dubai Food Carnival, a weekend-long celebration of food from more than 20 countries, will have chef demonstrations, cookery competitions and a kids’ zone.

Or head to Taste of Peru at the Madinat Jumeirah Amphitheatre from February 12-14. The festival will feature live Peruvian entertainment and dish up authentic foods including ceviche (raw fish cured in citrus juice), beef anticucho (marinated beef heart) and empanadas. Entry is free.

The Masala! Food Fair is an outdoor festival celebrating the best in Indian cuisine, with cooking competitions and demonstrations by a line-up of chefs that includes the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

Art, music, film and photography

The Dubai Food & Film Festival – the first of its kind in the Middle East – will screen four food-themed films for free at various outdoor locations from February 6-28. Food on offer will match the movie's theme. For a schedule, visit www.dubaifoodfestival.com/event/dubai-food-film.

Then there's Street Nights, a weekend dedicated to celebr­ating art, music, food and street culture, at Street 4b in the Al Quoz area. Street Nights is on February 20 and 21 from 5pm to midnight. Free entry. Visit www.streetnights.ae.

The second edition of the Street Food Photography Exhibition showcases works by the New York-based Penny De Los Santos – 30 images capturing Dubai’s street-food will be on display at Dubai International Airport until the festival ends.

Fatafeat Kitchen and Dine on the Creek

The region’s first Fatafeat Kitchen, based on the popular Arabic television cooking show, is a weekend-long event with nine regional and international chefs showing off theirculinary styles. There will also be Q&A sessions, meet-and-greet sessions and book-signings. Fatafeat Kitchen is on February 20 and 21 at Lafayette Gourmet, Galeries Lafayette in The Dubai Mall. From 1pm to 10pm, free entry.

In another first for the festival, book a dinner and a cruise with notable chefs on a floating restaurant in Dubai Creek.

• Dubai Food Festival runs from Friday, February 6, until February 26. For more information, visit www.dubaifoodfestival.com

Six of the best

Beach Canteen

Sample 11 home-grown pop-ups at Kite Beach: Chez Sushi, Pantry Café, Spill the Bean, Moti Roti, Kris Kros, Rice Creamery, Claw BBQ, Provedore, Shawerme, J J Chicken Legend and Moylo’s. Local bands and DJs will provide live entertainment and there are beach sports and children’s activities.

Also look out for these chef pop-ups:

• Yousef Khumayes – February 6-9

• Chefs from The Inventing Room, an innovative restaurant from Denver, Colorado, in the United States, will create Willy Wonka-inspired food – February 12 and 13

• Chefs from the Emirates Culinary Guild Young Chefs Club – February 15-20

• Sanjeev Kapoor – February 21

• Manal Al Alem – February 22-25

• Jason Atherton – February 26-28

• Beach Canteen, February 6-28, Kite Beach, Jumeirah. Free entry

Masala! Food Fair

Lovers of Indian food, look no further. This two-day outdoor food festival will celebrate all there is to love about desi fare – from chaat to curries served by high-profile chefs such as Sanjeev Kapoor and Atul Kochhar. More than 20 food stalls and retailers will share their culinary tips at live cooking stations and offer main courses, sweets and snacks throughout the fair. Visit www.masala.com

Three to try

• Pani puri: Tiny, deep-fried puffs that are filled with spicy cumin water, boiled chickpeas, onions, tamarind sauce and coriander chutney. Every mouthful is good.

• Appam: A bowl-shaped rice-and-coconut crepe cooked on a concave griddle. Best eaten with a spicy chicken curry.

• Kulfi: Indian ice cream that’s available in several flavours, including chocolate and strawberry, but it’s best to stick to traditional tastes: saffron, pistachio and mango.

• Masala! Food Fair, Zabeel Park, February 20 and 21 from noon to 9pm. Dh5 to enter Zabeel Park

Made in Dubai

The final weekend of the Dubai Food Festival brings up a celebration of Emirati cuisine with some lesser-known dishes, too. Don’t forget to try chamee (cheese made with laban), jareesh (fried crushed bread), wild desert truffles (prized, rare truffles that can only grow in the wild), custard ma loomi (lemon bread pudding), matharubah (fish with rice paste), dungaw (boiled chickpeas with spices and hot chilli peppers), and mhammar (small, local fish, spiced and served whole with caramelised onions and sweet yellow rice).

• Made in Dubai, Zabeel Park, February 27 and 28, from 10am to 9pm. Dh5 to enter Zabeel Park

Find a food truck

In a first for the festival, a convoy of nine trucks will dish out signature fare on Dubai’s streets. The trucks include the newly launched Jake’s (bagel burgers), Panifico (sandwiches), Brooklyn Bros (hot dogs), Melt (healthy yogurt and pure fruit juice ice lollies) and more.

Sundays: Emaar Boulevard

Mondays: Academic City (Zayed University and KHDA building)

Tuesdays: JLT Park

Wednesdays: Knowledge Village, beside the Gloria Hotel and the Cisco Building

Thursday: Studio City

• On February 8-26, 11.30am to 4pm, weekdays only

Dubai Food Carnival

A festival within a festival, the Dubai Food Carnival will host 80 food brands and 40 restaurants in the course of three days. Seven masterchefs – Simon Rimmer, Atul Kochhar, Russell Impiazzi, Silvena Rowe, Sanjeev Kapoor, Tarek Ibrahim and Manal Al Alem – will entertain the crowds in the Chefs' Dome with live cookery demonstrations. There will also be a Dubai Food Festival Academy with chef-led demonstrations, competitions for visitors and "how to" sessions. Visit www.dubaifoodcarnival.com.

• Dubai Food Carnival, Dubai International Marine Club, February 12-14, Dh30. Kids under 12 are free

Dine on the Creek

For a truly memorable evening, book a seat with a star chef on a floating restaurant. Guests will cruise Dubai Creek for two hours while dining on signature food prepared by a renowned chef. Here’s the schedule:

February 10: Chef Yousef Khumayes will host a dinner on the Rustar Boat. Dh90 per person. From 8pm to 11pm. To book, visit www.rustarcruise.com or call 04 395 7941.

February 18: Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor from India will host a dinner on Al Mansour Dhow. Dh185 per person. From 8pm to 11pm. To book, call 04 395 7941.

February 23: Chef Manal Al Alem will host a dinner on Al Mansour Dhow. Dh185 per person. From 8pm to 11pm. To book, call 04 395 7941.

• Visit www.dubaifoodfestival.com/event/dine-on-the-creek