Venue
Al Wathba South, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Sheikh Zayed Festival, Abu Dhabi guide
A winter heritage fair at Al Wathba.
In short
The Sheikh Zayed Festival usually runs from late October or November to mid-March in the desert at Al Wathba. Camel and falconry displays, a traditional village and international pavilions sit beside fairground rides, concerts and drone shows. It suits families who want an easy evening out; go after dark when the programme is fullest.
The Sheikh Zayed Festival is Abu Dhabi's winter-long heritage fair, held in the desert at Al Wathba in honour of the UAE's founding president. Night after night it mixes camel and falconry displays, a reconstructed traditional village and pavilions from across the Arab world and Asia with fairground rides, concerts and drone shows.
It is built for families, and that is the best reason to go. You see the capital at leisure, eating, shopping and watching the shows, while the pavilions sell food and crafts from more than twenty countries.
Its New Year's Eve fireworks have set world records, but on an ordinary weeknight it is a calmer, more relaxed affair.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Venue: Zayed Festival Village
Held: Every year
Type of event: Leisure Events, Cultural Events, Folk Festival
Nearest airport: Abu Dhabi (AUH) · 3 flight routes
Currency: UAE dirham (AED)
Time zone: UTC+4, no daylight saving
Language: Arabic; English widely used
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Dress code and warm clothing for the evening
This is a heritage event with a family audience, so cover shoulders and knees. Comfortable shoes matter more than you might think: the site is large, and most of it is on foot.
From December to February the desert gets genuinely cool after dark. Bring a light jacket or a scarf, especially if you plan to stay for the late shows or for New Year's Eve, when you may be outdoors for several hours.
Ask before photographing Emirati families, women and children in particular.
Ticket prices and checking rules before you go
Ticket prices, any free entry for children, and the VIP Box packages are listed on the official festival website and its booking page. Rules can change between seasons, so check before you leave.
Opening hours also shift for holidays and special nights. A quick look at the festival's own channels on the day saves a wasted drive into the desert.
Avoiding weekend and New Year's Eve crowds
- Weeknights are far quieter than Friday and Saturday.
- On New Year's Eve, arrive in the afternoon and accept a long wait to leave.
- Agree a meeting point with your group near a landmark pavilion.
- Leave the car park before the final show if you have small children asleep in the back.
- Keep the taxi app open before the last show ends, because the whole crowd leaves within the same hour.
What happens on the day
- About 16:00
Gates open
Last season's hours, closing around midnight on weekdays and 1am at weekends and public holidays.
- Early evening
Heritage village and pavilions
Walk the craft stalls and national pavilions in the last of the daylight.
- After dark
Emirates Fountain and concerts
Water, screens, lasers and holograms; Arab and Gulf singers in the Layali Alwathba series.
- 21:30
Drone show
On scheduled nights last season.
- New Year's Eve
The headline night
Drones moved to 23:30 and a long display of fireworks, lights and lasers.
Choosing which night to visit Al Wathba
The festival is open every evening for more than four months, so the real decision is which kind of night you want. Weeknights are calm enough to wander the pavilions without queues. Friday and Saturday bring families from across the capital and traffic on the approach roads. New Year's Eve is a different event altogether, the most crowded night of the season, and it needs planning weeks ahead.
Aim to arrive close to opening time. The heritage village and the craft stalls are best seen in the last of the daylight, and staying until the drone show gives you the full arc of the evening. If you want more of the country around the visit, our guide to the United Arab Emirates covers the other emirates. Before setting off, check the hours and ticket rules on the official festival channels.
Sheikh Zayed, camel shows and the national pavilions
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the UAE, is the figure at the centre of it all. The event took its current shape in November 2021 when two of his sons, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, set it up, and its priorities are plain: heritage comes before the fairground.
Start in the heritage village, which recreates life before oil with traditional markets and craft workshops alongside folk dance troupes. Camel culture and falconry have displays and competitions of their own, and so do the seafaring trades, a nod to older ways of making a living on this coast.
Then cross to the international pavilions. Recent seasons have featured Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Thailand and Turkey, with regional pavilions for the GCC and for Africa, and others covering the Americas and the Levant and Iraq. Last season 22 countries took part, most of them selling food from home along with crafts and clothes, so dinner can be a slow walk from one country's stalls to the next. Families now also have Al Wathba Winterland, added in 2025-26. It has an ice rink and a roller coaster among its rides, and a dinosaur park next to them.
Getting there
Flying in
Zayed International is not far from the site. See Dhaka to Abu Dhabi and Bangkok to Abu Dhabi flights, and our UAE visa page. Airport taxis charge 60 to 100 dirham to anywhere in the city.
No rail link
Nearly everyone arrives by car, taxi or ride-hailing app; there is parking on site. Metered cabs cost 1.82 dirham a km with a 12 dirham minimum.
From Dubai
Emirates Express coaches run every 30 minutes and take about two hours; then a taxi to the festival.
Traffic
Approach roads crawl on Friday and Saturday evenings and far more on New Year's Eve.
Where to stay during the festival
Most visitors stay in Abu Dhabi and come out by car or taxi. The Tourist Club Area and Corniche East have a good spread of hotels.
Budget for a taxi each way, as there is no rail link to Al Wathba.
Abu Dhabi
Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi5-star hotel
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from$500.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
3 Rooms available
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Weather and what to pack
The festival season is Abu Dhabi's mild half of the year. Average highs fall from 31°C in November to 24.5°C in January and climb back to 26.5°C by February, with lows of 14 to 20°C (Zayed International, 1991-2020 normals).
Evenings from December to February can feel cool in the open.
Worth packing
- A light jacket for winter evenings
- Comfortable shoes for a large site
- Cash or card for food stalls at the pavilions
Flights to Abu Dhabi for Sheikh Zayed Festival, Abu Dhabi
The busiest routes into Abu Dhabi (AUH).
FromTo DAC AUH DhakaAbu Dhabi FromTo CGP AUH ChattogramAbu Dhabi FromTo ZYL AUH SylhetAbu Dhabi Available airlines1 airline- Biman Bangladesh Airlines
Car hire in Abu Dhabi
Airport transfer to Sheikh Zayed Festival, Abu Dhabi
Met at arrivals at Zayed International Airport (AUH) and driven door to door to Zayed Festival Village.
- Zayed International Airport (AUH) → Zayed Festival Village
- 37 km · 35 min
Restaurants and food in United Arab Emirates
Places to eat in United Arab Emirates before or after the celebrations.
Erth
Al Hosn, Al Hosn Cultural District, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Cuisine:EmiratiModern Middle Eastern
- Dine-in
- Outdoor seating
At.mosphere
Level 122, Burj Khalifa, Downtown Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cuisine:Modern EuropeanFrench-inspired
- Dine-in
- Bar
Ravi Restaurant
Shop 245, 9th Street, opposite Union Cooperative Society, near Al Satwa Roundabout, Al Satwa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cuisine:PakistaniPunjabi
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Outdoor seating
Al Ustad Special Kabab
Al Musalla Road, near Al Fahidi, Bur Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cuisine:IranianPersian
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Trèsind Studio
St. Regis Gardens, The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cuisine:Progressive IndianTasting menu
- Dine-in
- Counter seating
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Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
The season opens at the end of October and closes in mid-March, with the gates open every evening in between.
See the day timeline above for last season's hours. Confirm this season's hours before you go.
Yes. National Day is one of its special nights, with a dedicated programme, and as a public holiday it keeps the later closing time that applies at weekends.
Yes. The season overlaps Ramadan, and the festival marks it with special evening programmes and a 23-day tournament, with more drone shows for Eid al-Fitr.
General
See the day timeline above for last season's times. Check the schedule, since not every night has one.
Its New Year display in 2022 set three Guinness World Records for fireworks, and each 31 December since has brought another long show of fireworks, lights and lasers.
The children's area added last season, with rides, an ice rink, a dinosaur park and a roller coaster. It sits within the festival grounds.
Yes. Last season spending at the festival restaurants entered diners into a draw for a car, and the Ramadan tournament carried a large prize pot of its own.
The Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, a protected Ramsar site close by, is home to greater flamingos. It makes a good daytime companion to an evening at the festival.
Yes. The Layali Alwathba series brings Arab and Gulf singers to the main stage on many evenings. Line-ups are announced through the festival's channels as the season goes on.
Getting there
Not easily. There is no rail link, so plan on a taxi, a ride-hailing car or your own vehicle. Parking is available on site.