Surprise, surprise! There’s a whole load of Dubai Summer Surprises lined up over the next few weeks in this annual festival of events.

This year’s DSS got off to a cracking start with an ice-themed surprise and over the coming weeks will also feature Arts, Food, Adventure, Cartoon, Nature, Knowledge, Flower, Heritage and Back to School surprises.

At the heart of the entertainment is Modhesh Fun City, created in the indoor facility at the Dubai International Convention Center (Dubai World Trade Center).

The idea behind creating MFC was to hone children’s imaginations by offering dedicated areas for hobbies and edutainment programmes. It is the biggest theme park created each year during the DSS offering a wide range of entertainment combined with learning in a fun-filled way.

It will have dedicated zones for different activities be it arts, sports or theatre and music.

Meanwhile, Mall of the Emirates will host a series of stunning events during DSS 2006.

From July 9 – 12, children and adults will be able to sample Food Surprises available in the Mall. These will include live cooking demonstrations, ice carving and food displays.

Adventure week from July 13 to 19 will feature an awe-inspiring Chinese Circus with acrobats, jugglers and aerial shows.

Curious children can take the opportunity during Nature Week (July 27 – August 2) to find out more about bugs. The Monster Creepy Crawlies exhibit shows anatomically accurate bugs blown up to human size, together with theatrical displays of their place in our home and lives, thrillingly bringing the subject to life.

The ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ is the theme of this year’s Flower Week (August 10 – 16). More aerial shows and an amazing petal drop from high up in the Galleria will entertain visitors.

For the photography buffs there’s a chance to participate in a six-day exhibition offering great prizes.

And finally, there’s a real surprise in store for the lucky winner of a grand draw being promoted by Emarat service stations to coincide with DSS.

“Live Your Dreams with Emarat” is offering a grand prize of a luxury, two-bedroom fully-furnished apartment in Dubai Sports City, Dhs100,000 in cash and a Peugeot 206CC convertible car. The prize is worth a total of Dhs1.75 million.

More details of all the DSS events on the web site at http://www.mydsf.com