DSF Al Rigga The Night Market opens seventh season in Deira with Filipino food and nightly shows

The DSF Al Rigga The Night Market in Deira, Dubai, reopened for its seventh season on 17 October with Filipino food stalls, retail bazaars and nightly live performances, and its owner estimates that about 80 percent of visitors are Filipinos.

The DSF Al Rigga The Night Market in Deira opened its seventh season on 17 October, Gulf News reported. The open-air market operates during the cooler months and offers Filipino food stalls, retail bazaars and nightly live performances.

Gulf News described a traditional Filipino jeepney on site, karaoke singers and groups of friends gathering to share a meal, saying an evening at the market can feel a little like being back in the Philippines.

Owner Frel Villaflor, who arrived in the UAE in 2006, estimated that about 80 percent of the market's visitors are Filipinos, noting that its location in Deira, where a large number of overseas Filipino workers live, makes it a natural gathering place. She said the business has also given small business owners a place to start or grow their ventures. "We basically create a place where they feel belong. A little piece of home right here in the middle of Deira," she said.

The reopening is part of the return of Dubai's night markets as the weather cools. Emirates 24|7 reported that most of the city's night markets offer free entry and budget-friendly food and shopping, with food court areas serving snacks, street food and drinks such as halo-halo, and said there are quite a few night markets in the Al Rigga area along Al Rigga Road.

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