Manar Elbaz

DUBAI: Melt DXB, Dubai’s ice cream festival, held a cosplay showcase as well as origami and chibi art workshops on August 27, the festival’s final day.

Taking place at World Trade Center, the free event offered a variety of ice cream flavors as well as entrainment, such as a ball pit and slime-making zone, as a fun and relaxing way to deal with Dubai’s heat.

The Japanese-inspired events were organized by Uprizing; an event company specializing in anime and games events in the United Arab Emirates.

From Bleach’s Ichigo Kurosaki to Hatsune Miku, attendees showed up for the last day in astonishing cosplays to showcase their love for their favorite characters.  

Participants also took part in an origami workshop, which is the Japanese art of turning paper into various shapes. The workshop was held by Enka, an exchange group that spreads Japanese culture in the United Arab Emirates through workshops and cultural trips. 

“Japanese culture is becoming more prominent, so we’re trying to introduce the culture itself (through events like this) to more people in the UAE”, said Reem, the origami artist, before leading the workshop.

Morever, the second Japanese-related workshop had a huge success during the event’s last day. The chibi art workshop was held by Sarah, a freelance artist in the UAE, who showed the participants the basics of the Japanese drawing style.

Originating in Japan, chibi art is a caricature art style that’s popular in anime and manga.