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UAE National Day (Eid Al Etihad) guide
Every emirate celebrates the union at once.
In short
Eid Al Etihad falls every year on 2 December, with 3 December also a public holiday. It marks the 1971 union, and every emirate celebrates with fireworks, flag-wrapped cars and heritage villages that visitors are free to join. It suits travellers in the UAE in early December; expect busy roads and crowded evening events.
Eid Al Etihad, Union Day in English, is the national day of the United Arab Emirates, the anniversary of the union six emirates declared in 1971. It is the one occasion when every emirate celebrates at once, with fireworks, flag-wrapped cars and heritage villages, and visitors are free to join in.
Many people still call it National Day. The newer name stresses the union itself, a deliberate nod to the many nationalities who live and work beside Emiratis, and the red, green, white and black scarves you see on the day are worn by families of every nationality.
For a traveller it is the clearest view of how the Emirates see themselves: proud of a young state, attached to desert and seafaring traditions, and happy to mark both with the loudest night of the year.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: United Arab Emirates
Held: Every year
Type of event: Cultural Events, National Day
Currency: UAE dirham (AED, Dh)
Time zone: Gulf Standard Time, UTC+4
Language: Arabic
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Dress code, photography and alcohol rules
At official events and in the heritage villages, cover shoulders and knees. These are family occasions, and many Emiratis come in national dress. Ask before photographing anyone, women and children especially, and take a refusal gracefully.
A scarf in the flag colours is a welcome gesture, and plenty of foreign residents wear one. Public displays of affection are frowned on. Drinking in public is illegal across the country, and Sharjah is a dry emirate where alcohol is almost entirely forbidden, so keep it out of any picnic on the Al Majaz waterfront.
Commemoration Day, two days before the holiday, is a day of mourning for the fallen. Keep music and partying for later in the week.
Holiday closures and using the Metro
Banks and government offices close for both days of the holiday. Malls, restaurants and attractions stay open, and many run holiday offers, so shopping centres are busier than on an ordinary weekend.
Load a nol card for the Dubai Metro on an earlier day, and keep a phone charged with a ride-hailing app for the trip back. Taxis are hardest to find in the hour after the displays end.
Watching the fireworks with children
The crowd is densest around the tower. With small children, watch instead from the creekside at Festival City or from the waterfront in Sharjah, where a group is easier to keep together.
- Agree a meeting point that is not the fountain edge, where everyone else will be.
- Bring water and something to sit on, since you may wait an hour or more.
- Write your phone number on a wristband for young children.
- Stay put for ten minutes after the last rocket and let the first rush for the exits pass.
What happens on the day
- Late November
Flags go up
On villas and car bonnets; palm trees along the main roads are lit in red, green, white and black.
- 30 November
Commemoration Day
A sober day of remembrance.
- 2 December, daytime
Families out
Heritage villages open with crafts and folk dancing, and cars wrapped in the flag crawl along the main roads in informal rallies.
- 2 December, evening
The official show and fireworks
The show is televised; the fireworks wait for dark.
- 3 December onwards
The long weekend
Friday is a half day for the public sector, so many people's break runs on to the weekend.
Abu Dhabi or Dubai for National Day
Decide first which city you want to be in on the night, because the big emirates celebrate in different ways. Abu Dhabi holds the official national show, a production for the rulers and their guests that most people see on television, and sends its fireworks up over the Corniche. Dubai pulls the biggest audience, packed around the Burj Khalifa and along the creek at Dubai Festival City. Sharjah's evening centres on Al Majaz Waterfront, while Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah run parades of their own.
The same week brings Eid Al Etihad nights at the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Al Wathba and Formula 1 on Yas Island. Our guide to the Emirates helps fit the rest of a trip around them.
The founding of the UAE in 1971
Before 1971 this coast was the Trucial States, a string of sheikhdoms under British protection. Britain said in 1968 that it would withdraw, which left the rulers three years to work out what should replace the arrangement. Bahrain and Qatar took part in the first negotiations but went their own way. On 2 December 1971 six emirates declared the union and made Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan its first president. Ras Al Khaimah held back. It signed on 10 February 1972.
The declaration was signed at Union House on what is now Jumeira Road in Dubai, and the first national flag was raised there the same day. The site now holds the Etihad Museum, opened on the 2016 anniversary. Its galleries concentrate on the years from 1968 to 1974, and the declaration itself is on show, which gives the fireworks some context. Go in the days around the holiday.
The newer name, Eid Al Etihad, translates as Union Day. It was chosen to take in the many nationalities who live alongside Emiratis, and you will see expatriate families in flag scarves next to Emiratis in national dress. At the heritage villages, look for luqaimat, small sweet dumplings soaked in date syrup.
Getting there
Before you fly
Check entry rules for your passport on our UAE visa page.
Dubai
Dubai International Terminals 1 and 3 have their own Red Line Metro station, 15 to 20 minutes into the city. The same line stops at Burj Khalifa, with trains every three to five minutes from 05:50 until midnight. Roads around Downtown close or jam well before the show.
Taxis
Metered at 2.19 dirham a km with a 12 dirham minimum; an airport pickup adds 25 dirham. Dubai Festival City is two kilometres from the airport.
Abu Dhabi
Emirates Express buses leave Al Ghubaiba every 30 minutes from 5:30am to 11:30pm, about two hours for 130 km. Or fly straight into Zayed International; airport taxis charge 60 to 100 dirham to anywhere in the city.
Sharjah
A 12 dirham bus ride from Dubai, but the evening rush brings long delays. Set off for Al Majaz early in the afternoon.
Where to stay during the festival
The two-day holiday becomes a long weekend for residents and visitors from across the Gulf, and rates in Dubai and Abu Dhabi climb to match.
In Abu Dhabi, hotels along Corniche East keep you close to the fireworks. In Dubai, Deira has the cheapest beds near the souks, and Festival City has its own hotels beside Festival Bay.
Dubai
Jumeirah Burj Al Arab5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$1,600.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
7 Rooms available
Book Now
Dubai
Rove Downtown3-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$81.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
3 Rooms available
Book Now
Abu Dhabi
Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$500.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
3 Rooms available
Book Now
Ras Al Khaimah
Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$340.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
3 Rooms available
Book Now
Sharjah
The Chedi Al Bait, Sharjah5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$140.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
3 Rooms available
Book Now
Weather and what to pack
Early December is the start of the pleasant season in the Emirates. Dubai averages daytime highs of about 27°C and lows around 17°C in December, with very little rain. Evenings outdoors are comfortable, sometimes cool enough for a light layer.
Worth packing
- A light layer for the evening
- Modest clothes for heritage villages and mosques
- Sunglasses and sunscreen
- Something in red, green, white or black, if you want to join in
Car hire in United Arab Emirates
Airport transfer to UAE National Day (Eid Al Etihad)
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to United Arab Emirates.
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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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
Not usually. The official show is produced for the rulers and invited guests and broadcast on national television. Visitors in the capital watch the public fireworks on the Corniche instead.
Wrapping cars in flag colours is part of the day, and residents do it widely. On a hire car, ask the rental company before you add stickers or a wrap.
In 2026 the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend begins the day after National Day, so the two run back to back. Hotels in the capital fill early, and road traffic on Yas Island is heavy.
General
Downtown, around the Burj Khalifa, has the biggest crowd and the flag lit on the tower. Dubai Festival City on the creek is the calmer alternative and close to the airport.
It is a separate, solemn day remembering Emirati military personnel who died on duty. The mood is sober, and it falls just before the Eid Al Etihad holiday.
Yes. The Etihad Museum in Dubai stands where the rulers put their names to the declaration, and the signed document is part of the display.
Its ruler held out when the other six signed and joined some ten weeks later, in February 1972, which made seven. Bahrain and Qatar, part of the early talks, stayed out altogether.
Each of the northern emirates stages its own parade and events. Their schedules tend to appear late, usually in the second half of November, through each emirate's official channels.
Yes. The tower displays the national flag on the night, and fireworks go up around it. Arrive well before dark to find a place on the lake promenade.
Stay & facilities
Look for luqaimat, crisp sweet dumplings soaked in date syrup. The pop-up heritage villages also serve other traditional dishes alongside craft stalls and folk dancing.