Icons of Porsche attracts more than 15,000 fans in Dubai
The Icons of Porsche festival has cemented itself as the Middle East’s premier automotive exhibition after an enormous crowd attended this year’s edition. Close to fifteen thousand marque enthusiasts visited the two-day festival at the close of November, more than twice as many attendees as last year.
For 2022, Icons of Porsche was themed as the Safari Edition, aligning with the taste for off-road adventure in the Middle East, as well as recognising Porsche’s just-released Dakar Edition 992-generation 911. The event — its second staging — was held at The Slab in the Dubai Design District across the weekend of 26th and 27th November, with the spectacular skyline of downtown Dubai serving as backdrop. The expanded 31,000ft2 site hosted numerous cars, displayed in five different zones, each presenting a different theme and catering for different interests. The 2023 edition of the Icons of Porsche festival, which will celebrate seventy-five years of Porsche sports cars, is already scheduled to take place across the weekend of 18th and 19th November 2023.
“Everyone involved in Icons of Porsche is overwhelmed by the increased number of visitors at this year’s festival,” says Dr. Manfred Bräunl, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche Middle East and Africa. “In just two years, the event has grown from nothing to become the largest car festival in the Middle East. This shows just how strong the Porsche community is in this region. It is fascinating to see such excitement amongst the large and diverse crowd in attendance. In true festival style, there are all kinds of cars on display for people to see and enjoy.
I am especially pleased to see interest in Icons of Porsche growing not only across the entire region, but also around the world. We have had many tourists, journalists and Porsche car club members from Europe and other continents attend this year. This encourages us to keep growing the event and is the reason why we have announced the 2023 date, to ensure interested parties can set the weekend in their calendars a full twelve months in advance.”
The festival hosted the regional premiere of the new 911 Dakar, 911 GT3 RS and 911 Sport Classic. Racing legends, including Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Jacky Ickx, were present, and fans were able to experience thrilling rides in the latest Cayenne on a purpose-built off-road track. Icons of Porsche also saw the unveiling of the ‘Safari Camel’, the in-real-life recreation of a famous artwork by renowned digital illustrator, Chris Labrooy.
This was one of the most popular features of the festival, attracting fans of all ages. Four exhibits from the Porsche Museum made the trip from Stuttgart to Dubai — the 1986 959 Paris-Dakar, the 1981 911 SC San Remo, the 1981 924 GTS Rallye and the 1978 911 SC Safari. Just as impressive was the cast of cars from all over the Middle East. From early 356s to the mighty Carrera GT (pictured is the immaculate example belonging to Yousef Fitiani, co-founder of the Porsche Club in Kuwait) and everything in between, many cars had travelled huge distance to be displayed in Dubai’s desert sunshine. See you there next year, then?!
THRILLING RIDES IN THE LATEST CAYENNE ON A PURPOSE-BUILT OFF-ROAD TRACK