The fourth edition of the Icons of Porsche festival has attracted a sell-out crowd of over 28,000 fans over two days at the Dubai Design District in Dubai, United Arab Emirates over the weekend.
Many famous faces from around the Porsche world attended the event, highlighted by Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche AG.
Thousands of Porsche owners and enthusiasts attended to share their passion for the brand and its cars. Members of Porsche car clubs and communities from around the world all came together in Dubai for the event, cementing Icons of Porsche’s reputation as the biggest car festival in the Middle East region.
Oliver Blume visits Icons of Porsche for the second time
Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board, Porsche AG, made his second visit to Icons of Porsche when he visited on Saturday night. Blume addressed the crowd on stage, thanking them for their strong sense of community and passion for the brand.
“Porsche has always been all about fascinating sports cars, and just as much about emotions and dreams – that connect people across generations and continents,” said Blume to the passionate crowd in attendance.
“All of this comes together at Icons of Porsche in a truly unique way – in front of this spectacular backdrop here in Dubai.”
Fellow Executive Board member Sajjid Khan also attended, along with Matthias Becker (Vice President of Region, Overseas and Emerging Markets), Frank Moser (Vice President, 911 and 718 model lines, Porsche AG), Kevin Giek (Vice President, Taycan and Panamera model lines, Porsche AG), and Alexander Fabig (Vice President, Classic and Individualisation, Porsche AG).
Achim Stejskal, Director of the Porsche Museum and Heritage department, was also on-hand to oversee the exhibition of some of the museum’s most precious cars, brought to Dubai to celebrate 50 years of the famous Turbo model lines at Porsche.
Racing champions also on-hand
Reigning Formula E World Champion Wehrlein was celebrated on the main stage, along with his championship-winning Porsche 99X Electric Formula E race car.
Porsche ambassadors Mark Webber and Jorg Bergmeister were also on-hand, the latter he also joined a 200-car community drive on Friday morning prior to the event up Jebel Jais, the highest point in the United Arab Emirates.
The 44,000 square metre site was abuzz on both Saturday and Sunday nights, with live art installations, cultural exhibits, live music and entertainment and community gatherings. Over 10 of Dubai’s most popular restaurants had pop-up food locations on-site, including the DRVN by Porsche café, which created a one-off ‘Cayenne Pepper’ pizza exclusively for this year’s festival.
Media from around the world were accredited for this year’s event, including a live outside broadcast by popular local radio station DubaiEye from the festival site on Saturday.
“We are so pleased that yet again a large and passionate crowd has joined us here in Dubai for Icons of Porsche,” said Manfred Braeunl, Chief Executive Officer, Porsche Middle East and Africa FZE.
“We made special effort this year to ensure the experience was raised to a new level. The size of the festival site was expanded and we had more entrances, food vendors, activations and facilities than ever before.
“To see the enjoyment and excitement on the faces of fans of all kinds over the weekend was rich reward for the entire team that made this event our best one yet.
“As always, I must personally thank each and every owner that allowed us to share their dream sportscar to our adoring fans. We appreciate their participation immensely.”
911 Turbo Remastered by Sonderwunsch auction
The one-off 911 Turbo Remastered car, created by the Porsche Sonderwunsch special request department, was again presented at Icons of Porsche. Last year’s appearance was its world premiere, and this year the car was presented for auction in conjunction with RM Sotheby’s. The auction concludes this Tuesday, with interest from around the region and the world already registered with bidding and inspection of the vehicle occurring in earnest over the festival weekend.