St. Mary’s Family Festival 2012

Under the banner of the Family Ministry of St. Mary’s Catholic Church Dubai, the Family Festival 2012 was inaugurated with great pomp and splendour by parish priest Rev Fr Tomasito Veneracion on Thursday 12 January. 

With the theme, “One Family…One Community…One World”, this two day event had dual purpose of bringing the parishioners together to celebrate the gift of unity and love and also to share and care for the needs of the lesser privileged parishioners.  This event also served as a platform to showcase the talents of various communities, cultures, traditions and most importantly the families of the parish. Parishioners in their thousands, from all walks of life and all nationalities participated in the two day fun filled activities.

The festival catered for all age groups with a number of stage shows, cultural programmes, music, games and food stalls.  Friday morning was dedicated for children.  Additionally, on both days the football court converted itself into kids zone with bouncing castles and slides.  Mini hall too was filled with Games Stalls and special attractions like kiddie rides including a Merry Go Round. Special attraction for this year was the Biblical themes for all the game stalls together with dedicated caricature and henna counters.  The rodeo, car racing and arcade games was an added attraction in the Games Stalls area.

Of course, the main attraction was the Grand Raffle with top prize of Dhs. 25,000 worth of gold on the first day and a Mitsubishi Pajero on the second day.  There were numerous other prizes as well.  The audience had plenty of opportunities of winning attractive spot prizes and other items through the redemption counter that exchanged the tokens won at the games stalls.  The entire two days ushered everyone with valuable gifts and pleasant memories of time well spent.

The stage events were hosted by Joaquim Fernandes on Thursday, Karen Braganza on Friday morning and Errol Goveas on Friday evening.

Organising such a mega event is a long painstaking process but also a privilege to all those who were involved with the organizing, execution and volunteering task. The financial support and encouragement of all our sponsors, donors and well-wishers speaks volumes of their generosity and goodwill in supporting this noble cause. Their participation and presence during the events of the celebration has gone a long way in making Family Festival 2012 a resounding success. The parish is therefore grateful to all the sponsors of this two day event for their generous support.  Please click on the sponsors logos below to access their respective websites. 

Promotional Stand Sponsors:

 World Council of Immigration Services         OSN (Orbit Showtime Network)         De Paul International Residential School

Wartsila                                     Simba Toys Middle East                         Coby / Vivitar (GECO)

Amber Clinic (Gulf Healthcare International)                    Our Town                           Babelac / Danone Baby Nutrition

Axis Bank                          Dubai Dolphinarium

The other sponsors being the banner sponsors, donors and well wishers.