Vinyl Souk DXB

Went to their 25h pop up, I guess 4pm is still too early in this city because it was pretty quiet, music was really nice though. Overall I think the f&b options could have been more/varied. my biggest problem was seeing that their valet is 200 dhs unless you spend more than 100 at the pop up. Only finding this out too late, because nobody seems to care about informing you or at least having info banners/ signs. I did not love anything enough to spend on until I found some jewelry and made the purchase to avoid having to pay for valet. I asked for a stamp to validate the valet ticket from the security, he tells me to walk into the nearby restaurant and ask them for the stamp. I go and they tell me to go into the hotel to ask the front desk, I reach the front desk and they tell me go to this random cafe bar and ask them. Finally, after giving me the runaround at 4 different ends, I get a stamp at the cafe. I reach the valet and request my car, and at no point in my speaking to 5 different staff members of this event was I asked to prove with any receipt or evidence that I have in fact spent more than dhs100 to validate my ticket. I feel utterly scammed and disappointed because honestly, I welcome the opportunity to support and shop from local small businesses, but feeling obligated to and then finding out nobody even checked felt like I has wasted my money. For this alone I am giving this rating, nothing to do with the vendors or the artists present that were amazing.

family and dog friendly event focussed on music discovery and bringing music, film, photography and art communities together.