Organising Paw Party Dxb, Dubai’s First Animal welfare Music Festival was a fulfilling and impactful endeavor, but it didn’t come without its challenges. It was a considerable amount of work, there were some ‘teething issues’ but in the end it worked out well.

For the last several weeks I put aside my Saxophone Performance, Entertainment & Events Business & pretty much everything else to make the event happen. It was a colossal job that I through myself into, simply because if I didnt, then it’d probably never have happened.

I’d been wanting to arrange an animal welfare focused event for some time. The desire came out of my current involvement in animal welfare, mostly rescuing & assisting street cats. It’s a thankless job but I can’t turn a blind eye to their suffering so I do it. I’ve had people tell me they wish they were as ‘passionate’ as me, and then maybe they’d help. Well; it’s not a matter of passion, it’s a matter of responsibility.

Those in the animal welfare community are struggling. Many are low income earners & stretch their means to help, due to that shared sense of responsibility. The reality is the way the systems are setup things are not improving & the small localised welfare communities are not coping. The ruthless profiteering breeders & pet shops, irresponsible owners who dump unwanted & sick animals, the under regulation & lack of efficient pragmatic systems all contribute to the issue. Subsequently  my own initiatives are also extremely challenging and long term also unsustainable. Rescuers are emotionally, physically and financially burdened, many, if not most to complete exhaustion.

There are strict regulations in the UAE in regards to charity & for fair reasons. So I put my business hat on and thought, ‘how can I scale my contribution in order to make a bigger difference?’ By fusing my Passion for Music, my business experience in entertainment & events and my responsibility for animal welfare, Paw Party Dxb was born.

I am privileged & happy to say I have many supportive colleagues and friends in the Music, Events, Nightlife & Creative industries. On shooting out a few messages on social media I quickly had several amazingly talented entertainers reach out to me to volunteer their musical & other creative services. Beatriz an amazing product designer put together the perfect branding, literally ‘over the weekend.’  Those who performed will be noted here below. I was delighted to have such prompt & immediate support. Several super star Singers, Djs & Musicians joined me on the day & I’m forever thankful to them for not only supporting me but for putting their time aside & contributing in the most beautiful manner. By sharing their talent & not expecting anything in return they’ve helped kick off something really special. Thank you guys & gals!!

I had numerous Sponsors come onboard to offer a variety of give aways to attract punters. They are listed here below and special features for them will be shown at the Paw Party Dxb instagram account.The Radisson RED Hotel Dubai Silicon Oasis did a great job hosting the event, providing Food and Drinks and assisting with official logistics.

Overall Paw Party Dxb was a massive success and I Iook forward to the next one!

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