The Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) is an annual festival event that was launched in the summer of 1998 by the Dubai government in order to promote Dubai as a family holiday destination. The summer travel event focuses on fun, knowledge, and entertainment for kids during the yearly summer vacation and attracts families year after year.

The Dubai Summer Surprises lasts for 10 weeks and normally runs during the months of June to August. The weeks of the DSS are divided into themes called surprises and named according to the activities being held during that period. The different surprises are organised by various government departments, in association with the shopping malls, hotels, and sponsoring companies. The last themed promotion is always the Back-2-School Surprises.

Dubai Summer Surprises 2005 22nd June to 2nd September
Flower Surprises	22 - 29 June
Sweet Surprises	30 June - 6 July
Art Surprises	7 - 13 July
Colour Surprises	14 - 20 July
Ice Surprises	21 - 27 July
Adventure Surprises	28 July - 3 August
Cartoon Surprises	4 - 10 August
Heritage Surprises	11 - 17 August
Knowledge Surprises	18 - 24 August
Back-2-School Surprises	25 August - 2 September

The Dubai Summer Surprises mascot is named Modhesh (pronounced Mud-hish or Moe-desh), after the Arabic word for amazing, incredible and unexpected. One of the popular areas of the DSS, is the Modhesh Fun City, which can be found at the Dubai International Airport Expo and is open from 10am to 10pm on weekdays and has an entry fee of Dhs. 5 per child and Dhs. 10 per adult.

The festival summer event is organized and handled by the Dubai government departments and the DSS Office. The event is promoted in the GCC by means of organised road shows, in order to attract visitors within the region. The event is sponsored by a number of hotels and hotel apartments, which offer a variety of discounted packages for visitors. The official slogan for the event is "Big Fun For Little Ones".