Last weekend, the kids and I went to “Rise”, a new outdoor entertainment on the Dubai Creek Promenade and could well be the coolest place to be in Dubai. Rise is open from now and every weekend from 2pm.

Think of a place with lots of bean bags and sofas to just sit back, lounge and while the time away gazing at the unbeatable views of the creek and the beautiful Dubai skyline against the afternoon sunset.

Salt Food Truck and Vida Hotel food trucks were among the foodie providers, as well as demonstrations from scientific cooking bods The Inventing Room. A roaming robot, virtual reality installations, arty water and building projections, audio-visual performances and some neat little Lego-style electronic toys for kids and not to mention, there are play areas for the little ones to enjoy made our visit so worth it. 

Dubai Creek Harbour is a new community to be developed by Emaar, the same company that developed Downtown Dubai, the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa, the world’s biggest mall Dubai Mall and world’s largest fountain, the Dubai Fountain.

I remember when we arrived in 2007 and Burj Khalifa was just half complete and the whole area of the Dubai Mall and Downtown Dubai was still so dusty from all the construction. We visited the Emaar sales center at Downtown, saw the diorama and model houses of the future residential buildings and thought…it looks so ambitious, will these ever become a reality?

But alas, Dubai is a city that knows not the word impossible and the ambitious project of Downtown Dubai, Dubai Mall, Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa came to be.

And now, when I was standing at the promenade near the Dubai Creek Harbour Sales Center, I could see trucks and cranes working 24/7. Each roaring sound of the trucks is a sign towards all of these becoming a reality.

The promenade – I’m not sure if this is just temporary, is made just to give visitors a taste of what it will be like to be here, to see the sweeping views of Dubai’s iconic skyline at the distance and to marvel at the warm glow of the sunset amidst the tranquility of the creek.

Dubai Creek Harbour as a project will stretch around 6km – twice the size of Downtown Dubai – and will be a city unto itself.

The development include nine different districts, such as The Island District, Creekside 18, Harbour Views, The Canal District and The Sanctuary District. Situated adjacent to the Ras Al Khor Natural Wildlife Sanctuary, it will boast a world class yacht club, marina and harbour, 22 hotels, 6.79 million square metres of residential space and almost twice that in retail.

A very prestigious project is in the works too, a structure ‘just a notch’ taller than Burj Khalifa – Santiago Calatrava’s lily-bud inspired The Tower is an iconic monument that will be the centerpiece of the entire development, setting a new benchmark for engineering around the world.

When completed, Dubai Creek Harbour area is supposed to look like this:

More photos of The Tower here.

The Dubai Creek Harbour promenade is open from now and every weekends only Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Entry and parking is free. For more information about the upcoming events, please check out www.risedch.com.