Liwa International Festival 2027: getting from Dubai to Moreeb Dune, and whether to stay the night

The Liwa International Festival 2027 runs from 11 December 2026 to 2 January 2027 at Tal Moreeb, the giant dune south of Liwa in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region. From Downtown Dubai it’s about 345 km, a drive of roughly 3 hours 45 minutes each way. That’s why we tell most people from Dubai to stay at least one night.

We drive Dubai guests to Liwa as part of our Dubai to Abu Dhabi chauffeur service, and the first question is always the same: can it be done in a day? It can. Whether it’s worth it is another matter. Here’s how we work it out.

Liwa 2027 dates, hours and tickets

The Liwa International Festival website lists 11 December 2026 to 2 January 2027, and Abu Dhabi Media Office confirmed the same dates in September 2026. The detailed 2027 programme hadn’t been released when we wrote this.

Edition	Dates	Status
Liwa 2025	13 December 2024 – 4 January 2025	Finished
Liwa 2026	12 December 2025 – 3 January 2026	Finished; WAM reported more than 700,000 visitors
Liwa 2027	11 December 2026 – 2 January 2027	Confirmed
Liwa 2028	Not announced yet	Usually mid-December to the first weekend of January

General admission to the festival grounds is free. Some competitions, VIP areas and special events charge separately.

Liwa Village, the family zone at the base of the dune, is ticketed. Its Plan Your Visit page lists:

• Hours: Sunday–Thursday 4 pm to midnight; Friday and Saturday 4 pm to 2 am.
• Tickets: AED 25 adults (AED 20 early bird), AED 65 for a family pass of two adults and two children, AED 10 for children aged 4–10 and over-60s; free for children under three and People of Determination. Sales are online.

During the day the action is on the dune: the motorsport the festival is known for, with drift, drag and the Moreeb hill climb. In the last two editions the hill-climb finals closed the festival over its final days, so the last weekend draws the biggest motorsport crowd.

How far is Liwa from Dubai?

These are road distances to Liwa Village from our own route checks. The times are what we’d allow with a short fuel and coffee stop.

From	Road distance	Allow
Dubai Marina / JLT	about 325 km	about 3 h 30 min
Downtown Dubai / Business Bay	about 345 km	about 3 h 45 min
DXB airport / Deira	about 360 km	about 4 h
Abu Dhabi Corniche	about 250 km	about 2 h 50 min
Madinat Zayed	about 90 km	about 1 h 15 min

The route. Sheikh Zayed Road (E11) out of Dubai, past Abu Dhabi on Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Road and the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed International Road, then south on the E45 through Madinat Zayed to Mezairaa, the main town of Liwa. From Mezairaa it’s about 25 km on Tal Moreeb Road to the dune. Visit Abu Dhabi describes the dune as rising more than 300 metres, with a paved road running right to its base.

Tolls on the way are small: Salik gates on Sheikh Zayed Road and Darb’s Ghantoot gate near the border (AED 4 per crossing). In our cars they’re part of the price.

Liwa itself has limited amenities, so our chauffeurs plan the fuel and coffee stop in Madinat Zayed, about 1 hour 15 minutes before the dune.

Day trip or overnight?

Do the arithmetic before you decide. A day trip from Downtown Dubai means about 7 hours 30 minutes in the car and close to 700 km. Leave at 11 am, arrive around 3 pm, stay for the evening, and you’re back in Dubai between 1 am and 2 am.

	Day trip	One or two nights
Time in the car	About 7 h 30 min in one day	Split across two days
Time at the festival	Afternoon and evening only	Dune motorsport by day, Liwa Village at night
Late return	Home after 1 am	None
Best for	Adults who only want the evening programme	Families, motorsport fans, photographers
Car booking	Full day with the same car	Two-day booking, or a drop and a separate pickup

We’d only suggest the day trip to adults who’ve seen the dune before and just want one evening. Everyone else gets more out of it with a night in Liwa: the motorsport happens in daylight, the village opens at 4 pm, and sunrise on the dune only works if you’re already there.

Nights in the desert are cold in December. The festival’s own advice is to dress in layers, because it’s hot by day and chilly at night.

Where to stay: hotels and camping

Rooms in Liwa are limited, and the festival’s own advice is to book ahead in busy seasons. Its plan your visit page lists the options in the Al Dhafra region, including Liwa Hotel, Western Hotel Liwa, Aldhafra Resort (Vignette Collection), Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort and Bab Al Nojoum’s Bateen Liwa camp.

Camping at the festival is booked through the Liwa Sports Club app, which also handles motorsport registration. Bring more water and food than you think you need: the festival notes that amenities are limited outside hotels and that refill stations are few. Phone signal can be weak away from the main sites, so download maps before you leave Dubai.

Which car for Liwa

The festival notes that main landmarks are on paved roads, while a 4x4 is recommended for dune bashing and remote areas. So:

• A 4x4 SUV is our default for Liwa. Nissan Patrol Platinum, Lexus LX 600 or Range Rover. It’s the comfortable car for 700 km, it carries camping gear and cool boxes, and it’s the right car if your camp or a car park is on sand rather than tarmac. See our luxury SUV chauffeur fleet.
• A sedan works if you’re staying at a hotel and only visiting the village and the paved areas.
• Groups of 6–7 fit a Mercedes V-Class; for larger groups we arrange minibuses with drivers.

One rule that doesn’t bend: our chauffeurs stay on paved roads and in festival car parks. We don’t drive on the dunes. If you want dune bashing or a desert drive, book it with a licensed operator in Liwa and we’ll drop you at their meeting point.

Combine Liwa with the Al Dhafra Festival

The Al Dhafra Festival’s camel competitions and heritage market run through the same winter. Its Madinat Zayed stage is 3–10 December 2026 and its finale, the Cash Prize Rounds, 12–19 December, overlapping Liwa’s first week. Madinat Zayed is on the E45, right on your way, and last season’s final stage was held there. If the finale is there again, a two-day plan from Dubai looks like this:

1. Day 1, 9 am: leave Dubai. Arrive in Madinat Zayed around 11:45 am for the Al Dhafra Festival.
2. Day 1, 2:30 pm: drive on to Liwa (about 1 h 15 min) and check in.
3. Day 1, evening: Liwa Village from 4 pm, dinner on site.
4. Day 2, morning: sunrise at Tal Moreeb, then motorsport on the dune.
5. Day 2, 2 pm: leave for Dubai, home by about 6 pm.

Our Al Dhafra Festival guide covers the Madinat Zayed stages in detail. For nearer Abu Dhabi evenings, the Sheikh Zayed Festival at Al Wathba is less than half the drive, and our Dubai events calendar lists everything else on that winter.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Liwa Festival 2026–27?

The Liwa International Festival, branded LIWA 2027, runs from Friday 11 December 2026 to Saturday 2 January 2027 in Liwa, Al Dhafra region, Abu Dhabi. The festival website and Abu Dhabi Media Office both give these dates. The full event-by-event programme is published closer to the opening.

How long is the Liwa festival?

The 2026–27 edition runs for 23 days, from 11 December 2026 to 2 January 2027. The last two editions were the same length, starting in the second week of December and finishing on the first weekend of January, with the dune hill-climb finals at the end.

Is the Liwa festival free entry?

General admission to the festival grounds is free, according to the official website. Liwa Village, the family zone at the base of the dune, sells tickets: AED 25 for adults, AED 65 for a family pass, AED 10 for children aged 4–10 and over-60s. Some competitions and VIP areas charge separately.

How far is Liwa from Dubai?

About 325 km from Dubai Marina and 345 km from Downtown Dubai to Liwa Village at Tal Moreeb. Allow 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours each way, using the E11 past Abu Dhabi and the E45 south through Madinat Zayed. From Abu Dhabi city it’s about 250 km.

Can you visit the Liwa festival as a day trip from Dubai?

Yes, but it means about 7 hours 30 minutes of driving and a return to Dubai after 1 am if you stay for the evening. We recommend at least one night in Liwa, or in a desert resort nearby, so you can see the daytime motorsport and the village at night.

Do you need a 4x4 to get to Moreeb Dune?

No. A paved road runs to the base of the dune, and the festival says the main landmarks are reachable on paved roads. A 4x4 is recommended for dune bashing and remote areas, and it’s the better choice if your camp or parking is on sand.