Hala February 2015 - Where are the Events Publicized in English?! (With Info!)

Hala hala hala February....

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What is Hala February?!
Hala (means "hello" in English) February is an annual month-long celebration.  It is supposed to promote tourism and boost the local economy with events, discounts, etc. - similar to Dubai Shopping Festival.

2/3 of the population of Kuwait is non-Kuwaiti.  Many of us speak English, but no Arabic (or if you're like me, I speak Arabic, but don't read it).    Most of the private-sector businesses use English as their official business language.  Street signs and postings are all bi-lingual.

But TRY to find out what is going on in your own back yard (for example, on days when fighter jets are flying overhead and  you're wondering about an attack of some kind, only to find out later that there is a cool air show going on that you never heard about.... or your favorite Arabic singer was here for something, but hey - you didn't hear about that either).

Man, its hard to be an expat.

It really peeves me that after a near-20 years in Kuwait, the events here are almost never publicized (or publicized in a half-assed manner) in English.  Our biggest events are Hala February (lasting a month) and the National/Liberation day holidays on 25/26 February (technically only 2 days, but everybody turns them into a week).

There are several English daily newspapers here.  They don't publish complete schedules of events.  There are several magazines.  Ditto.  Why? Probably because they can't even get the information.

Go ahead, do an internet search for "Hala February 2015" and see what comes up.....

I figure if I BMC about it enough, eventually a little info will trickle in... Today, a very kind reader posted a website on my DG Facebook site with some info.  However, if  you go to the events page, unfortunately most of them are "pending".

I did a little searchin myself and came up with a few sites and bits of info:

Try this site from Mishref Fairgrounds "Carnival City" (re-branding?)  Again, this is not a comprehensive listing of all the events.  Since all events must have licenses, maybe the dudes doing the licensing could grace us with the information?  This is the "official" site but again... Arabic.

Here is a listing (Google Translated on the official site page) of musicians performing at the Ice Skating Rink.  Performances start at 10:00 pm.  You can purchase tickets online (I didn't get all the way through to buying tickets, but it translates in English at least through the seating and pricing charts.)  SITE HERE.

 "Dreams" = Ahlam.

www.7aajz.com

Kuwait UpToDate also has information on their FB site HERE.

I shamelessly promote anything animal-related in Kuwait:

Business idea:  Should anyone publish an actual GUIDE OF EVENTS, they could also publish Kuwait coupons, maps, shopping and attraction locations.

Wait... sorry... that's Dubai and the Dubai Shopping Festival.

Update:

‘Hala February 2015’ - Musical Events Cancelled

Arab Times

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 23, (KUNA): The Hala February 2015 festival Friday announced cancellation of remaining musical and entertainment events following demise of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. The higher committee of Hala February has decided to cancel all musical and poetry events, plays and other entertainment activities due to the passing away of King Abdullah, member of the committee and chairman of the Hala February Media Committee Waleed Al-Saqubi told KUNA.