UAE Public Holidays: What Is Confirmed for 2026, What Is Only Predicted for 2027, and When to Book
Eid Al Etihad on 2-3 December is fixed. The 2027 calendar is not announced and every Eid date you have seen is a prediction. Here is how to book against that.
Short answer
The only date genuinely fixed for the rest of 2026 is Eid Al Etihad on 2 and 3 December, which falls on a Wednesday and Thursday. Everything you are reading about the 2027 calendar – Ramadan, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha – is a prediction, not an announcement. The UAE Cabinet has not published a 2027 calendar, and Islamic dates depend on moon sighting. Book the December window now; wait on the rest.
Every August, the “UAE public holidays 2027” articles appear, presented with a confidence the underlying facts do not support. Here is the version that separates what is settled from what is guesswork, because the difference determines whether you should be booking today or in three months.
What is actually confirmed
| Holiday | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Eid Al Etihad (UAE National Day) | 2 and 3 December 2026, Wed-Thu | Confirmed. Fixed Gregorian date, listed on the official UAE government portal |
| New Year’s Day | 1 January 2027, Friday | Confirmed. Fixed date, and it lands on a Friday |
| Ramadan 2027 start | Around early-to-mid February 2027 | Predicted only. Subject to moon sighting |
| Eid Al Fitr 2027 | March 2027 | Predicted only. Subject to moon sighting |
| Eid Al Adha 2027 | May 2027 | Predicted only. Subject to moon sighting |
| Full 2027 Cabinet calendar | – | Not yet announced |
The official UAE government portal lists the recurring holiday types rather than confirmed 2027 dates, and it is right to: Islamic dates cannot be fixed in advance. Anyone publishing a definitive 2027 Eid date is publishing an astronomical estimate with the caveat removed.
The December window is the one to act on
Eid Al Etihad on a Wednesday and Thursday is a useful shape. It sits directly against the UAE weekend, which for most of the country creates a four-day break without touching annual leave, and a longer one for anyone who can take the Monday and Tuesday.
Note that the working-day arrangement – whether any day in lieu applies, and to which sector – is normally announced closer to the date by the Cabinet and MOHRE. As of today that announcement has not been made. The dates themselves are fixed; the arrangement around them is not yet published.
What that means practically: the demand is coming regardless, and pricing on short-haul routes out of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah tends to firm up six to eight weeks ahead of a known long weekend. Early December is inside that window now.
Booking rules of thumb for UAE long weekends
- Short-haul GCC and Caucasus: book six to eight weeks out. Waiting rarely pays.
- Medium-haul Europe and South Asia: eight to twelve weeks, and watch the shoulder days either side of the holiday.
- Fly out the evening before the first holiday day rather than the morning of – fares and airport queues are both lower.
- Return on the last holiday day, not the day after. The return leg on the final evening is the single most expensive flight of any UAE long weekend.
- For predicted-date holidays, hold. Booking Eid 2027 flights against an unconfirmed date is speculation, not planning.
Where to go on a four-day break
Four days is enough for the Caucasus, Oman, Jordan, the Indian Ocean or a short European city, and not enough for anything requiring a long-haul overnight in each direction. Georgia is particularly efficient from the UAE because the flight is under five hours and, for most residents, the visa question is already settled by your residence permit.
If Europe is on the list, check where things stand with EES queues and ETIAS before you build a tight itinerary, and if the UK is in play, the ETA rules changed this year.
What we are not going to tell you
We are not publishing 2027 Eid dates as fact, and we are not publishing dates for the next Dubai Shopping Festival edition. The 31st edition ran from 5 December 2025 to 11 January 2026 and has concluded; the following edition’s dates had not been announced by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism at the time of writing.
We will update this page when the Cabinet publishes the 2027 calendar and when DET announces the next DSF. The verification date at the top of this article tells you when it was last checked.
In the meantime, compare live fares for the December window while the pricing is still soft.
Frequently asked questions
When is UAE National Day 2026?
Eid Al Etihad falls on 2 and 3 December 2026, a Wednesday and Thursday. These are fixed Gregorian dates listed on the official UAE government portal.
Has the UAE announced the 2027 public holiday calendar?
No. As of 24 August 2026 the UAE Cabinet has not published a 2027 holiday calendar. Islamic holiday dates depend on moon sighting and cannot be confirmed far in advance. Any 2027 Eid dates you see are astronomical predictions.
Is there a long weekend for National Day 2026?
The 2 and 3 December dates fall Wednesday and Thursday, which sits directly against the UAE weekend and creates a four-day break for most of the country. The official working-day arrangement is normally announced closer to the date and had not been published at the time of writing.
How far ahead should I book flights for a UAE long weekend?
Six to eight weeks for short-haul GCC and Caucasus routes, eight to twelve weeks for Europe and South Asia. Fares on known long weekends generally firm up rather than fall as the date approaches.
When is Ramadan 2027 in the UAE?
Predictions place it in early-to-mid February 2027, but this is an astronomical estimate. The official start is confirmed by moon sighting shortly before it begins.
Sources
- Official UAE Government Portal – public holidays, u.ae
- Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism – 31st Dubai Shopping Festival press release, dubaidet.gov.ae
Verified 24 August 2026. This page is updated when the UAE Cabinet announces the 2027 calendar.
The HudHudTrip Travel Desk is the editorial team behind HudHudTrip.com, the Dubai booking platform operated by High Cloud Technologies LLC. We write for travellers flying out of the UAE, Iraq, the Levant and the wider Gulf. Every visa rule, holiday date and entry requirement we publish is checked against a government or embassy source before it goes live, and the verification date appears at the top of each article. Where a fact cannot be verified against a primary source, we say so on the page rather than repeat it.