Your 2026 UAE Holiday Calendar Just Dropped (And The Long Weekends Are EPIC!)

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Grab your planners, Dubai! It’s time to strategize your 2026 around the most glorious dates of the year: the public holidays. Let’s be real, we all live for those long weekend getaways and festive breaks. And guess what? 2026 is looking spectacular.

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The Big Picture: 12 Days of Bliss

First, the golden news. According to the UAE public holiday law, we are guaranteed a minimum of 12 official days off. The superstar of this show? The Eid holidays, which claim the vast majority of that precious time. But here’s a crucial tidbit: while most holidays can be shifted around the week, the rules do not apply to Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. They play by their own celestial rules!

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Eid Al Fitr 2026: The Feast of Sweet Endings

This major Muslim festival marks the end of Ramadan, translating to a glorious “feast of breaking the fast.” It begins on the first day of Shawwal.

Based on current astronomical predictions, Eid Al Fitr should begin on Friday, March 20, 2026. Cue the confetti! This likely means a sweet three-day weekend from Friday the 20th through Sunday the 22nd.

But wait, there’s a plot twist! The moon sighting could shift things. If conditions align just right, we could be looking at a fantastic four-day holiday stretching from Friday, March 20 to Monday, March 23. Either way, a win!

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Eid Al Adha 2026: The Grand Getaway

Hold onto your hats, because this is the longest holiday of the year! Eid Al Adha, the second major Muslim festival, concludes the pilgrimage to Mecca. The break spans Arafat Day and the following three days.

For 2026, predictions point to Arafat Day on Tuesday, May 26. The holiday would then roll through Wednesday, May 27, Thursday 28, and Friday 29. Do you see what we see? When you glue that to the weekend, you get a breathtaking SIX-DAY-long weekend. Yes, you read that right. Start dreaming of that extended vacation now!

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Eid Al Etihad: The National Day Scoop

Here’s the local hero! Eid Al Etihad is the UAE’s National Day, celebrating the federation’s formation every December 2 and 3.

For 2026, these fixed Gregorian dates land on a Wednesday and Thursday. Now, will we get a long weekend? It’s possible, but not guaranteed. The government might add Friday, December 4, or they might follow the New Year’s Day 2026 example (where Jan 2 is a remote work day). In that case, December 2 & 3 would be off, with a likely remote work day on the Friday for the public sector. We’ll have to wait for the official announcement!

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