Nicki Minaj to play 117 Live’s new Dubai venue

117 Live, headed up by veteran promoter Thomas Ovesen, will bring Nicki Minaj to the UAE on 25 March to play its new music venue, simply called The Venue.

To celebrate the opening of the temporary venue, a 20,000-capacity greenfield site at Dubai Outlet Mall, the company will for a limited time be selling tickets for 117 dirhams – roughly US$32, £22 or €29. (For comparison, the cheapest tickets for the UK leg of Minaj’s The Pinkprint Tour, in 2015, were priced at £40.)

The Venue will be replaced by a 25,000-capacity amphitheatre, also at the Outlet Mall, in spring 2017.

The 117 Live Amphitheatre will feature boxes, suites and viewing terraces and is part of a plan by 117 Live owner Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG) to create a “new regional live entertainment hub”. AAGH, a Dubai-headquartered international conglomerate which employs 9,000 people, also owns the Dubai Outlet Mall.

Ovesen was previously head of rival promoter Done Events. He joined 117 Live as its first CEO late last year.