It’s official – Sole DXB, the UAE’s homegrown urban culture festival is making a comeback at the end of the year after the Covid-19 pandemic forced it off the streets for two years — its first hiatus since it launched in 2011.
From December 9-11 2022, expect an action-packed weekend full of live music, DJ sets, talks, workshops, film screenings, and shopping.
The exact details of this year’s events and the line-up of performers are yet to be revealed, but if previous editions’ headliners are anything to go by – hip hop heavyweights Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and Stormzy, NBA player Scottie Pippen, creatives like designer Hiroshi Fujiwara and photographer Petra Collins – 2022’s comeback edition will pack a punch.
Known for bringing the UAE’s sneakerheads, streetwear enthusiasts, and hip-hop aficionados out of the shadows and into the limelight, the annual festival started as a sneaker summit in jamjar, a warehouse art gallery in Al Quoz by Hussain Moloobhoy, Joshua Cox, Kris Balerite, and Rajat Malhotra.
The idea said co-founder Hussain Moloobhoy in a 2019 interview with The National is that Sole DXB functions as a platform to educate UAE residents about hip-hop culture.
Since then, the event shifted base to the Dubai Design District which has been its home continuously until 2019. This year’s location still remains wrapped in mystery but we’re sure it’s going to be a venue that’s spacious enough to accommodate 36,000 people – the number of visitors who thronged the festival the last time it was held!
And that’s discounting the 100 performers and 80 brands that were on display.
Now that you’ve got a sense of JUST how integral visiting Sole DXB is to clocking up on some street cred, block those calendars! All the cool kids and their cool kicks will be there.