Sheikh Zayed Festival 2026-27

Sheikh Zayed Festival is a long winter season built on a stretch of desert at Al Wathba, on the Abu Dhabi to Al Ain road. It is part heritage village, part funfair, part concert venue and part national celebration, and it is one of the few places in the UAE where a family from Abu Dhabi, a tourist and a group of friends from Pakistan or Egypt are all there for the same reason on the same night.

The 2026-27 season opens on 30 October 2026 and runs 136 days to 14 March 2027, according to the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. Because it covers the whole cool season, it also carries the big public moments: Union Day (National Day) celebrations, New Year's Eve and the evening programmes of Ramadan and Eid.

The organisers say this edition adds new music and theatre performances, art and photography exhibitions and freshly designed aerial light choreography. Leading Arab and Gulf artists are billed for weekend concerts on the main stage. Sub-festivals through the season are themed around plants, livestock, food, flowers and honey, and more than 15 countries and regions will have pavilions on site, including India, China, Japan, Turkey, Morocco and Egypt.

Several fixtures came back every year recently and are expected to return. Last season (2025-26, theme “Hayyakum”) offered a Heritage Village of markets and live folk performance, the Emirates Fountain with synchronised water, light and laser, fireworks every Saturday at 10pm, the weekly Liwa Nights concerts, camel, falconry and dhow-sailing competitions, a Rare Animals Reserve, a Family Entertainment City and Al Wathba Boulevard for dining. That was 22 national pavilions and more than 4,000 cultural events. Treat the list as last year's, not a promise for this one.

The 2025-26 season ran daily from 4pm to midnight, and from 4pm to 1am on weekends and public holidays. Hours for 2026-27 had not been published when this page was last checked. Ticket prices and how to buy them were also not announced; the festival's own website and social channels are the place to confirm both before you drive out.

Go for the light, not just the dark. Arriving between 4pm and 6pm lets you walk the heritage village while it is still bright, eat early, and have the best part of the evening for the fountain and laser show once it is properly dark. Weekday evenings are far calmer than Fridays and Saturdays, and the Saturday fireworks at 10pm make that the busiest night of the week.

National Day (2 and 3 December) and New Year's Eve are the two nights to treat as events in themselves. Roads into Al Wathba back up well before the fireworks, so arrive early, agree a meeting point and a plan for getting out afterwards.

Evenings in the desert are cooler than the city. From December to February it can feel properly cold after dark, so bring a layer even if the afternoon was warm.