The Dubai International Coffee & Tea Festival (DICTF), the Middle East's only exhibition dedicated to coffee and tea, is raising the stakes this year by featuring the new and exciting Dubai International Coffee Championships with winners getting a chance to take home part of the prize pool of USD25,000, the largest in the history of barista competitions across the world. The Coffee Championships will include the Dubai International Barista Championship and the Dubai International Brewers Championship, each featuring professional baristas from UAE and around the world. The Coffee professionals will compete against each other in a test of skills, imagination, and creativity while preparing a series of beverages onstage. An equal number of local and international competitors will be featured in the two championships, which will be consecutively held to allow baristas to participate in both competitions. The newly introduced contests are taking place for the first time alongside DICTF at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre in December. This year the world's most rewarding coffee competition has also opened its doors to international contenders to raise the level of global appreciation for baristas and provide relevant learning and networking opportunities for all the participants. Anselm Godinho, Managing Director of International Conferences and Exhibitions, DICTF's organizer, said: "DICTF has been instrumental in raising awareness of Specialty Coffee in the region. We aim to support this exponential business growth with a relative and crucial focus on the coffee as a profession."