Cross-Cultural Creative Curation Studio
Based in Dubai · Serving the GCC

“Let’s curate experiences, not just brands.”

— Goya Choe, Founder & Creative Director, GOYA Studio
Prepared exclusively for Gato.dates  ·  Middle East Soft-Landing Proposal
GOYA Studio × VETT

A Curated Dubai
Soft-Landing for Gato.

From a home kitchen between two friends to Erewhon’s shelves — Gato already has what most brands spend years chasing. Next stop: Dubai. Three ready-made stages, zero cold-start — two flagship festivals and one government-backed venue, warmed up and waiting to open Gato’s next chapter.

Rollout Timeline — Q4 2026 → Q1 2027

Gato founders
The Founders
Gato product world
The Gato World
Gato new flavor drop
New Flavor Drop
Middle East Soft-Landing Proposal

Three stages,
one continuous story.

Nov 2026
Dec 2026 – Q1 2027 · TBC
Feb 2027
Anchor #1

Taste of
Abu Dhabi

Gato as flagship brand inside GOYA’s curated Wellness Lounge.

Anchor #2

DMCC
The Plaza

GOYA’s own curated wellness-longevity brand fair — Dubai’s first of its kind.

Anchor #3

Taste of
Dubai

Same flagship lounge, Dubai’s biggest festival audience.

+ Ongoing, between anchors — community pop-ups with Dubai’s wellness studios & cafés: brand collabs, workshops, viral moments, running the whole time.
Why Dubai, Why Now
01

A Market Legislating Wellness

Dubai just wrote longevity into law — the window opens exactly as Gato is ready to expand.

02

A Community-First City

The same founder-led, show-up-in-person energy that built Gato is exactly what Dubai’s scene rewards.

03

Three Stages, Zero Cold-Start

Two flagship festivals and one government-backed venue — warmed up and waiting to open Gato’s Dubai chapter.

The Stage — Anchor #1

Taste of
Abu Dhabi

Yas Island’s biggest lifestyle & food festival.

Three days of chef pop-ups, live music and lifestyle programming. Abu Dhabi’s festival culture turns a great snack into a headline fast — Brooki Bakehouse sold 5,000+ cookies in two days at its own Abu Dhabi festival debut, before a flagship store followed.

Gato doesn’t enter alone — GOYA Studio curates a full Wellness-Longevity Elixir Bar built around Gato as its flagship brand. Headlined by BMW Abu Dhabi, with Yas Island, DCT Abu Dhabi, MINI, Keeta and ICCA among 14 official partners.

20,000+Attendees expected
3rd year running
16Hand-picked restaurants
curated, not open-call
14Official festival partners
incl. BMW, Yas Island
Nov 13–15, 2026 · Gateway Park North, Yas Island · tasteofabudhabifestival.com
The Activation Plan

Three moves,
one debut stage.

01

Exclusive Menu Drop

Local-brand collab items, sold only here — built to sell out and queue.

02

Community Media Buzz

Real Dubai wellness communities woven in as collaborators, not guests.

03

Ongoing Presence

Pop-ups with studios & cafés between festivals — founders on-site.

The Opportunity — Anchor #2

Dubai Just Legislated Longevity.

In June 2026, Dubai passed Law No. 17, establishing the Dubai Longevity Authority — a dedicated regulator for wellness, longevity and advanced healthcare, chaired by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed as part of the D33 economic agenda. DMCC — the government free-zone authority driving that build-out — is opening The Plaza to a wellness activation, and GOYA Studio is leading it end to end, as lead curator and festival producer.

Uptown Dubai Plaza at night, DMCC
The Plaza — Uptown DubaiA 21,000 sqm open-air venue built for festivals and pop-up activations, hosting up to 4,000 guests — the stage GOYA is building on.
Law No. 17Dubai Longevity Authority — newly legislated, June 2026
26,000+Companies inside DMCC — one of the world’s largest free zones
300+Companies already onboarded to DMCC’s own Longevity Centre — first two weeks alone
~10%Of Dubai’s total GDP runs through DMCC
01

GOYA Studio as Lead Curator

Taste of AD/Dubai builds local media buzz and community traction, with Gato as flagship — that momentum earns GOYA Studio the DMCC stage outright.

02

A Full Wellness-Longevity Fair

Global + local wellness & longevity brands, hand-picked and onboarded by GOYA Studio — pop-ups, workshops, community programs, Gato leading as flagship.

03

Dubai’s First of Its Kind

Anchored with DMCC’s own Longevity Centre as host/sponsor, and Gato attached as flagship from day one.

The Activation Plan

Three moves,
the scale stage.

01

Encore Menu Drop

The Abu Dhabi collab formula, refreshed — proven demand, new exclusive items.

02

Momentum Stacking

By Feb 2027, Gato is already a known name from Abu Dhabi + DMCC — this is the scale moment.

03

Full-Circle Storytelling

Content from all three stops, packaged into one rollout story for Gato’s own channels.

The Stage — Anchor #3

Taste of
Dubai

Same team as Abu Dhabi. Twice the audience.

Dubai Media City Amphitheatre — the last edition (Feb 2026) drew 25,000+ visitors across the weekend and 16 pop-up restaurants, including Akira Back, Duck & Waffle and Lowe.

Gato closes the loop here — the same GOYA-curated Wellness Lounge from Abu Dhabi, now in front of Dubai’s largest festival crowd. 21+ official partners on the roster — Pepsi, Careem, Hellmann’s, BLACK+DECKER, Voyah and U By Emaar among them.

25,000+Visitors, last edition
Feb 2026
16Curated pop-up
restaurants
21+Official festival partners
incl. Pepsi, Careem
Feb 2027 · Dubai Media City Amphitheatre · tasteofdubaifestival.com
GOYA Studio × VETT — Track Record

We’ve already run this exact playbook — in Dubai.

K-pop concert performance, Seoul My Soul main stage Seoul Beauty Zone, aerial view of the crowd
Seoul My Soul — Event Reference

A K-pop concert, five Seoul lifestyle zones —
sold out, even on a weekday.

Before Gato, we brought Korea’s biggest tourism board to the UAE and sold out a two-day cultural festival — curated experience, not a booth.

01National TV & press coverage via an exclusive Seoul Mayor interview on Dubai TV, plus a CEO interview and pre/post-event coverage on Eye of Dubai.
02100% sold out — K-pop concert (OH MY GIRL × KARD line-up) at The Agenda, even on weekdays.
031.6M+ reach · 67K+ engagements via top-tier influencers and community activation.
045 specialized lifestyle zones — Beauty, Picnic, Studio, Snacks, Goods — one integrated brand journey.
As Featured In
Dubai TV Eye of Dubai
DatesMay 6–7, 2024
ClientSeoul Tourism Organization · The Agenda, Dubai
Sweet Palette desert pop-up, full festival vibe at Badaya Camp Sweet Palette illuminated pop-up stalls at night, Badaya Camp
Sweet Palette — Event Reference

Curated cross-cultural fusion.

Where Korean dessert culture met Middle Eastern craft — a remote desert venue transformed into an iconic pop-up, plus a two-week café takeover at Wafi Mall.

01Cross-cultural collab menu — Korean F&B brands × local culinary talent, incl. Forever Rose (founded by Ebraheem Al Samadi of Netflix’s Dubai Bling), for a limited-run only, event-exclusive dessert line-up.
0220,000+ integrated footfall, 9.35% engagement rate on 247,376 campaign views.
03140+ organic story reshares · 13 press placements incl. Khaleej Times, Gulfscoop.
04AED 26,000+ in direct sales generated for partner brands, 648 RSVPs.
Collaborating K-Cafés & Local Venues
Bando Coffee House Forever Rose London Smoki Moto Taon 1004 Gourmet Seoul Street
DatesNov 18–Dec 1, 2024
ClientaT Center (Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.) · K-FOOD
The Vision — What’s Next

You manifested Dubai.
We’ve already got the keys.

Reference: branded festival booth presence
01

Festival Booth Presence

Branded booth inside Taste of AD/Dubai, plus The Plaza at DMCC — Dubai’s first wellness activation of its kind.

Reference: viral collab unboxing moment
02

Viral Collab + Workshops

Limited-edition menu with a viral local brand, run alongside wellness-community workshops.

Reference: mobile pop-up van moodboard
03

Mobile Pop-Up Moodboard

Stylish pop-up booth or mobile vehicle built for social — Al Seef Avenue, Kite Beach.

Reference: limited-edition Dubai merch shelf
04

Dubai Limited Merch

Dubai-exclusive drop during the pop-up run — new revenue, stronger branding, real fandom.

Next Step

20 minutes on a call —
we’ll show you exactly where Gato fits first.

We’ll walk through the full rollout timeline, the DMCC opportunity, and the exact activation plan for Taste of Abu Dhabi.

Let’s Talk → goya@goya-studio.com