Emirates Lit Fest Expands 2021 Edition

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature today announced that it is joining forces with the Jameel Art Centre and the Alserkal Avenue to expand the 2021 Festival across the city over three weekends from 29 January to 13 February 2021.

Embracing literature, art, film, food, and performance, the Festival is being held under the theme ‘Change the Story’. Commencing on 29 January at Jameel Arts Centre, the Festival will conclude on Saturday 13 February at Alserkal Avenue.

The first weekend of the Emirates LitFest at the Jameel Arts Centre, taking place 29-30 January, will offer a weekend of talks, workshops, masterclasses and literary-themed exhibitions linking art, popular culture, and literature against the backdrop of Dubai’s contemporary arts museum and Sculpture Park.  

This will be followed by the big Festival weekend at the InterContinental Festival City, from 4 - 6 February, where audiences can enjoy more than 80 diverse sessions, workshops and performances featuring writers of every genre from the different parts of the world.

The third and final weekend of the Emirates LitFest concludes at the Alserkal Avenue on 12 - 13 February. The last weekend will feature a community celebration of film, food, creativity, and all things literary.

Ahlam Bolooki, Festival Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature said: “This has been a difficult year for all of us, particularly the creative sector, which is facing unprecedented challenges. We want to work with our partners and friends to ensure our creative communities continue to thrive. Bringing the LitFest magic to these three fantastic venues across Dubai allows them to reach new audiences while extending our Festival’s reach, bridging the gap between art, creativity and literature.”

“Given our festival theme ‘Change the Story’, it’s particularly appropriate to widen our scope this year and change the narrative by joining hands with our friends in the cultural community to bring back live events in 2021. We have all missed the atmosphere and connection that can only be experienced by actually being physically present, and we are very eager and excited to welcome audiences back, safely,” Bolooki added.

Antonia Carver, Director of Art Jameel, said: “Jameel Arts Centre is a contemporary arts museum but the written word has always been at its core -- through our publishing programme, the Jameel Library, book clubs and research and writing commissions. Art Jameel's approach has always been interdisciplinary and, by supporting the Literature Festival this year, we are able to bring to the forefront our shared interests in creative writing, reading and the Arabic language. We are so looking forward to bringing together the arts and literary communities to celebrate creativity in all its forms, at the Jameel and in the adjacent Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park.”

Vilma Jurkute, Director of Alserkal, said: "Alserkal's long-standing commitment to scholarship, artistic production and research is grounded in collective thinking and the collaborative strength of our polyphonic communities to pioneer unconventional ways of thinking. As a catalyst for ideas for more than a decade, we have delivered our public promise through forward-thinking, year-round cultural productions that serve as a platform for creative expression in all its forms. We look forward to expanding our programme to welcome a weekend of thought-provoking discussions and presentations in celebration of the spoken and written word, in partnership with Emirates Literature Festival.”

All three weekends will have the same lively, engaging LitFest appeal featuring an entertaining mix of talks, workshops, performances, food, film and books of all genres with inspiring locally based and international authors and speakers. 

The full programme will be revealed in the last week of December. Due to social distancing guidelines, there will be fewer tickets available for every session, so early booking is recommended. Foundation Friends get exclusive access to ticket purchasing for 24 hours before they are released to the public. Tickets will be required for each session, including those that are free of charge, to manage and adhere to visitor number restrictions.

The Festival will be fully compliant with all COVID-19 precautionary measures and regulations from health authorities. Observing social distancing measures across all three venues will be paramount, along with regulations such as mandatory masks and temperature checks. Sessions are staggered for crowd management and will offer numbered and socially distanced seating, with thorough sanitisation between events. The full details are available on the Emirates LitFest website.

The Emirates Literature Foundation is the home of the award-winning Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. It is a not-for-profit organisation which supports and nurtures literature in the UAE and the region through a programme of varied cultural initiatives.

The Festival is held with the support of Founding Partners Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated authority for heritage, arts, and culture.

More information about the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature can be found online. Year-round news about #EmiratesLitFest is available on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. You can also tune in to the Foundation’s two podcasts; the Best of the Emirates LitFest, and the Boundless Book Club.