UAE Public Holidays 2026: Official Dates, Long Weekends and Next Holidays

Next UAE Public Holiday: Prophet Muhammad's Birthday

The UAE Government Media Office confirmed on 7 August 2026 that the paid public holiday for Prophet Muhammad's Birthday (Mawlid Al Nabawi) will fall on Friday, 28 August 2026, applying to both federal government and private sector employees. Because the holiday lands on a Friday, employees on the standard Saturday–Sunday weekend get a three-day break from Friday, 28 August through Sunday, 30 August, with work resuming on Monday, 31 August. This is a firm, government-announced date — not a prediction.

Earlier reporting, including our own 4 August update, expected the holiday to shift to the Monday beforehand (24 August), following the same pattern used for Islamic New Year in June. Instead, the government placed this year's Mawlid holiday at the end of the working week rather than the beginning — still a transfer under the same holiday-transfer rule, just in the opposite direction. The underlying religious date, 12 Rabi Al Awwal, is separately expected to fall around Tuesday, 25 August, pending the standard moon-sighting process closer to the date — but that doesn't change the paid holiday date, which the government has already fixed at Friday, 28 August.

Is Tomorrow a Public Holiday in the UAE?

Confirmed vs Expected Holiday Dates

Confirmed means the date has been formally announced through an official circular, a government media statement, a Cabinet resolution, or is a fixed Gregorian date already set by law (New Year's Day, National Day). Awaiting Announcement means the occasion is part of the statutory framework, but a specific transfer or sector circular hasn't been issued yet — as of this update, that applies only to any extension of the National Day break. As of 8 August 2026, every one of 2026's seven public holiday occasions — including Prophet Muhammad's Birthday, confirmed for Friday, 28 August — has moved into the Confirmed column.

Dubai Public Holidays 2026

Dubai public holidays 2026 generally refer to the same nationwide official holidays announced federally, and Dubai's government entities typically issue a matching circular shortly after the federal announcement — as happened for Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and the Islamic New Year earlier this year. Public holidays in Dubai apply across government departments, but individual attractions, malls, restaurants, transport services and private businesses set their own opening hours, and a public holiday does not automatically mean every Dubai attraction closes. Private-sector operations in Dubai depend on the employer and business type, so retail, hospitality and tourism operators frequently stay open — often with extended hours — even on a public holiday. Dubai doesn't run a separate, broader private-sector holiday calendar; it follows the federal list with local operational adjustments layered on top.

The next public holiday in Dubai is the same as the rest of the UAE — Prophet Muhammad's Birthday, confirmed for Friday, 28 August 2026, giving a three-day weekend through Sunday, 30 August.

UAE Long Weekends 2026

The next long weekend in the UAE is confirmed for Friday, 28 August – Sunday, 30 August 2026, when Prophet Muhammad's Birthday is observed. After that, the next opportunity is UAE National Day in December, which can be extended into a longer break with a single day of annual leave.

Public-sector employees typically observe a Saturday–Sunday weekend, though some local entities (Sharjah's government departments, for example) use a Friday–Saturday–Sunday pattern, which effectively gives them a four-day break around the 28 August holiday. Under the holiday-transfer rule, mid-week occasions other than the two Eid holidays may be shifted to the start or end of the week by a specific Cabinet decision, as happened with this year's Mawlid holiday moving to the end of the week rather than the beginning. Combining a confirmed public holiday with one or two days of annual leave, as shown above for National Day, remains the most reliable way to build a longer break without waiting on a transfer decision.

Eid Al Fitr Holidays in the UAE

Eid Al Fitr marks the end of Ramadan and is officially three days, covering 1–3 Shawwal. Because Ramadan completed 30 days in 2026, an extra day was added under the standard rule, giving both public and private sector employees a four-day holiday from Thursday, 19 March to Sunday, 22 March 2026, with work resuming on Monday, 23 March. The final Gregorian start date was confirmed by the UAE's moon-sighting process shortly before the holiday. Travel demand, airfares and hotel rates around Eid Al Fitr typically rise sharply, and government-service counters closed for the full break, with digital submissions still generally accepted. This holiday has already been observed for 2026.

Islamic New Year Holiday UAE

The Islamic New Year (Hijri New Year), marking the start of Muharram, is a one-day official public holiday for both sectors. Although 1 Muharram 1448 AH was confirmed to fall on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, the paid day off was moved to Monday, 15 June under the holiday-transfer rule, creating a three-day weekend for employees on a Saturday–Sunday schedule (some entities in Sharjah enjoyed a four-day break under their Friday–Saturday–Sunday pattern). Work resumed on Tuesday, 16 June for both sectors. This holiday has already been observed for 2026. It's a useful illustration of how the transfer rule works in practice — though as Prophet Muhammad's Birthday later showed, the government can move a holiday to either side of the working week, not just the Monday beforehand, so each occasion still needs its own official confirmation.

UAE National Day Holiday

UAE National Day, also referred to as Eid Al Etihad, marks the formation of the Union in 1971 and is officially confirmed for Wednesday, 2 December and Thursday, 3 December 2026 — the UAE's 55th National Day. These are fixed calendar dates set out in Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, so the base two days off are confirmed for both sectors. Whether the dates will be transferred or extended, as happened in 2025, hasn't yet been announced and should be confirmed closer to the date rather than assumed. National Day typically brings extensive celebrations, road closures around major event routes, elevated hotel demand and a spike in domestic travel; government offices generally close for the full observed period.

Can UAE Public Holidays Be Moved?

Under Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, the Cabinet may transfer most public holidays — with the specific exception of the two Eid holidays, which stay tied to their religiously determined dates — to the beginning or end of the working week. This requires a distinct official decision each time; a holiday is never automatically moved simply because it falls near a weekend, and a transfer can't be applied if the date already coincides with another holiday or a weekend. Local governments retain authority to declare additional holidays for their own departments and entities, which is why some emirates occasionally observe slightly different arrangements from the federal calendar. The August 2026 Prophet Muhammad's Birthday holiday is a good recent example of this in action: rather than moving the holiday to the Monday before the religious date, as many had expected, the government placed it on the Friday of that week instead — a reminder that media speculation and astronomical forecasts about a possible transfer are never the same as confirmation; only a published official announcement makes a transfer final.

How Public Holidays Affect UAE Visa Processing

UAE public holidays can add non-working days to standard visa-processing timelines, since government review offices and many private processing centres close for the full holiday period. Document requests, biometric or medical appointments, and airline or embassy counters outside the UAE may also pause or run reduced schedules around a holiday. Building in a buffer of a few extra days before and after any confirmed holiday — rather than assuming your visa will be ready exactly on the standard timeline — is the safest way to plan a trip. Express-service options can still face limitations during multi-day breaks such as Eid or National Day, when review capacity across the sector is reduced.

How to Plan Annual Leave Around UAE Holidays

The most efficient way to extend a UAE public holiday is to combine it with one or two days of annual leave placed immediately before or after the confirmed dates — for example, a single leave day on Friday, 4 December could bridge National Day into the following weekend. Always confirm your specific dates with your employer before booking travel, since weekly rest days, shift schedules and any holiday-transfer decision can all affect the exact break available to you. Shift-based and essential-service employees should check their own roster rather than assume the general calendar applies directly to them. Avoid locking in non-refundable bookings around an Islamic holiday's expected dates until the moon-sighting confirmation and official announcement are published.