UAE National Day 2026 in Dubai: Eid Al Etihad holiday dates, fireworks, parade roads and getting around

UAE National Day, now called Eid Al Etihad, is on 2 December. The official holiday covers 2 and 3 December, which in 2026 is Wednesday and Thursday, unless the government moves it as it did in 2025. Expect fireworks at Global Village and along the waterfronts, a car parade, free street parking and busy evenings. Book an event limousine or hourly chauffeur for the fireworks nights.

The 2026 celebrations mark the 55th anniversary of the union. When we wrote this (mid-October 2026), the government hadn’t confirmed the holiday days and Dubai hadn’t published its fireworks or parade plan. So the dates below come from the official holiday list, and the venue and road details come from last year’s official arrangements. We’ll update the page when the 2026 plan is out.

UAE National Day holiday dates: 2026, 2027 and 2028

The UAE government’s public holidays list sets National Day as 2 and 3 December, for both the public and private sectors. Here’s how those dates fall over the next three years:

Year	Anniversary	Holiday on the official list	Weekdays	What to expect
2026	55th	2–3 December	Wednesday and Thursday	Days to be confirmed, usually in mid-November
2027	56th	2–3 December	Thursday and Friday	Runs straight into the Saturday–Sunday weekend: a four-day break
2028	57th	2–3 December	Saturday and Sunday	Falls on the weekend, so no extra weekday off

The government can shift public holidays to the start or end of the week. In 2025 it did: the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation announced on 17 November that the 54th Eid Al Etihad holiday would be 1 and 2 December 2025, Monday and Tuesday, instead of Tuesday and Wednesday. A similar announcement for 2026 is likely in November.

The 2028 case is different. Under Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, as quoted on the government’s holiday page, a public holiday that falls on the weekend isn’t transferred to another day. Unless the rules change, National Day 2028 won’t add a weekday off.

Where are the National Day fireworks in Dubai?

The 2026 fireworks list hadn’t been published when we wrote this. Last year’s gives a good idea of where crowds and traffic will build:

Location	2025 timing	Getting there and away by car
Global Village, Dubailand	Fireworks at 9pm on 1, 2 and 3 December, plus drone shows on 1 and 2 December	Car parks fill on holiday nights; we drop at the entrance and agree a pickup time after the show
Souk Al Seef, Bur Dubai	Eid Al Etihad celebrations on 1 and 2 December, 5pm to 9pm	Narrow Creek-side streets; a drop-off beats hunting for parking
The Beach, JBR	Fireworks on 2 December at 9pm, according to news listings	JBR’s roads jam after the show; meet the car a short walk away from The Walk
Dubai Festival City Mall	Fireworks on 2 December at 8pm, according to news listings	Easy from Deira, Mirdif and the airport; exits queue for a while afterwards

Global Village’s schedule comes from its own announcement, published through the Dubai Media Office; the Souk Al Seef times come from Souk Al Seef’s events page. News listings in 2025 also named Bluewaters and Hatta among the displays. Our guide to getting to Global Village covers that venue’s car parks and gates in detail.

The pattern we plan around: a 9pm show creates one sharp exit wave the moment the last firework fades. If you’re not in a hurry, have dinner on site and leave an hour later. If you are, ask your chauffeur to wait at a pickup point outside the main car park before the show ends.

Will roads close for the National Day parade?

Last year’s Al Etihad Parade ran on 2 December along Jumeirah Road. According to the Dubai Media Office announcement, participants gathered at Dubai Maritime City from 3pm and drove from the Union House intersection to the Burj Al Arab intersection between 4pm and 5:30pm, with police patrols along the route. Brand Dubai later said more than 500 vehicles took part.

No formal closure was announced, but a convoy of 500 slow-moving cars on Jumeirah Road has much the same effect on everything around it. Dubai has also staged separate Eid Al Etihad street celebrations at City Walk, including on 2 December 2024, so don’t assume the 2026 routes until they’re published.

Our plan for parade day, wherever it runs:

1. Avoid the parade road from about 3pm until 6pm. For Jumeirah, that means using Al Wasl Road or Sheikh Zayed Road.
2. Move hotel pickups on Jumeirah Road outside that window. Before 3pm or after 6pm is calm.
3. Watch from the pavement, not from a car. You’ll see more, and you won’t be stuck in the convoy.
4. Check the route a few days before. Last year’s parade details came out on 28 November, four days ahead.

Our Jumeirah chauffeur service covers the hotels along that stretch year-round.

Car decorations and convoys: the rules

Decorated cars are part of National Day, and Dubai Police publish rules for them. The 2025 rules, released with the parade announcement, included:

• No stickers or sunshades covering windows, and number plates must stay visible.
• No changing the car’s colour without a permit, and no unlicensed modifications.
• No party sprays, inside or outside the car.
• Passengers stay seated within the car’s legal capacity; nobody leans out of windows or the sunroof.
• No unauthorised processions, blocking traffic, using the hard shoulder or loud music.

Dubai Police warned that breaking them could mean fines of AED 10,000 to AED 100,000, impoundment for more than 90 days and 24 black points. The 2026 rules should follow the same lines. As a passenger in a licensed limousine, none of this is your problem, but it explains why the roads near parades and fireworks crawl: police stop decorated cars that cross the line.

Metro, parking and public transport over the holiday

The RTA publishes holiday service hours a few days before. For the 2025 holiday, its Eid Al Etihad service hours announcement set out:

Service	2025 holiday arrangement
Dubai Metro, Red and Green Lines	5am to 1am on Saturday 29 November and on 1–2 December; 8am to 1am on Sunday 30 November
Dubai Tram	6am to 1am on the same days (later start on Sunday)
Public parking	Free on 1 and 2 December, except multi-storey car parks and Al Khail Gate N-365
Buses and marine transport	Holiday timetables in the S’hail app

Free parking sounds like good news. In practice it means every street space near a fireworks venue goes early in the afternoon, and cars circle looking for one. That’s one more reason a drop-and-collect plan works better on National Day evenings.

Holiday traffic: what the roads do in National Day week

National Day sits in the busiest stretch of Dubai’s year, and in 2026 it’s surrounded by big events. This is how we expect the week to look on our dispatch board:

Date (2026)	What’s on	Effect on the roads
27–29 November	Emirates Dubai 7s on Al Ain Road	Heavy traffic towards the stadium and late finishes
Last working day before the holiday	Getaway afternoon	Airport roads and the routes to Abu Dhabi, Hatta and Ras Al Khaimah fill from midday
2 December, afternoon	Parade (route to be confirmed)	Slow traffic on and around the parade road
2–3 December, evenings	Fireworks and family outings	Global Village, the Creek, JBR and Festival City busy from about 7pm
3–6 December	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Dubai–Abu Dhabi traffic builds from the end of the holiday
From 4 December	Dubai Shopping Festival starts	Malls busy every evening into January

GITEX Global follows on 7–11 December, so the cars people want (S-Class sedans, V-Class vans and large SUVs) get booked up for the whole fortnight. Our Dubai events calendar has the rest of the season.

Many residents spend National Day out of town. If you’re heading to Abu Dhabi for the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Al Wathba or a hotel break, travel on the morning of the first holiday day rather than on the last working afternoon, when everyone else leaves at once.

Planning a National Day evening with a chauffeur

Every National Day evening has the same problem: everyone wants to arrive at 8pm and leave at 9:30pm. Here’s how we’d plan it:

1. Pick one fireworks venue. Trying two in one night means sitting in two exit queues.
2. Book hourly hire, not a one-way transfer. The car’s job is to wait in the right place. Hourly hire has a 3-hour minimum, and we don’t add surge pricing or night surcharges on holidays.
3. Arrive by 7:30pm for a 9pm show. Earlier at Global Village, where the queues start long before the fireworks.
4. Agree the pickup point before you get out. Somewhere a short walk from the main exit, not the exit itself.
5. Match the car to the group.

Group	Car we’d send
Couple or two colleagues	Business sedan or Mercedes S-Class
Family of up to six	Large SUV such as a GMC Yukon or Cadillac Escalade
Seven people	Mercedes V-Class
Staff outing or community group	Minibus or coach through our bus rental service, 12 to 53 seats

Every car we send is an RTA-licensed limousine with an RTA-permitted chauffeur, and the price includes the chauffeur, fuel and Salik tolls. Free cancellation applies up to 6 hours before pickup, which helps when the fireworks schedule changes late.

Frequently asked questions

How many days is the UAE National Day holiday?

Two days. The official list sets Eid Al Etihad on 2 and 3 December for both the public and private sectors. In 2026 that’s Wednesday and Thursday, though the government can move the days to the start or end of the week, as it did in 2025, when the holiday was 1 and 2 December.

What time are the National Day fireworks in Dubai?

Most shows start between 8pm and 9pm. In 2025, Global Village held fireworks at 9pm on 1, 2 and 3 December, The Beach at JBR at 9pm on 2 December and Dubai Festival City Mall at 8pm on 2 December. The 2026 times will be published closer to the holiday.

Are there road closures in Dubai on National Day?

There’s usually no citywide closure, but the parade route slows to a crawl. In 2025 the Al Etihad Parade ran along Jumeirah Road from the Union House intersection to the Burj Al Arab intersection between 4pm and 5:30pm on 2 December, with police patrols. Roads near fireworks venues also jam after the shows.

Is parking free in Dubai on National Day?

It was last year. The RTA made public parking free on 1 and 2 December 2025, the holiday days, except multi-storey car parks and Al Khail Gate N-365. Paid parking resumed the day after. The RTA announces each year’s arrangements a few days before the holiday.

When is UAE National Day 2027?

On Thursday 2 December 2027, the 56th anniversary of the union. The official holiday covers 2 and 3 December, a Thursday and Friday, which runs into the Saturday–Sunday weekend for a four-day break. The government confirms the exact days each year, usually in November.