UAE public sector holidays announced for Eid Al Adha 2020

It’s an extra long weekend…

The public sector holiday dates have been announced for Eid Al Adha 2020. Employees in the public sector will enjoy an extra long weekend, starting from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 2. Work will then resume on Monday, August 3.

According to Gulf News, The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources announced the Eid Al-Adha holidays for ministries and federal entities (the public sector) on July 22.

Update: On Thursday, July 23, it was announced that the private sector would also enjoy four days off for Eid Al Adha. These dates are also Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 2.

Eid Al Adha is expected to fall on July, 31, but it is dependent on sightings of the moon.

What is Eid Al Adha?

According to tradition, Eid Al Adha is held to honour Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son, after being instructed to do so by God. Prophet Ibrahim told his son of the dream, and the son then told his father to follow the order.

But God intervened, sending a sheep to take his sons place.

What are the remaining public holidays?

Eid Al Adha is the longest public holiday remaining in 2020, but there’s still a few more public holidays to come this year. The next one is Hijri, (Islamic New Year), which will be celebrated on Sunday August 23, which could mean an extra day off work.

Following that, the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday will be marked with a public holiday on Thursday October 29, 2020. December 1 marks Commemoration Day, formerly referred to as Martyr’s Day. It falls on a Tuesday in 2020, and combined with two days off for UAE National Day, will mean a five-day weekend.

UAE National Day, which in 2020, will mark the UAE’s 49th birthday. We’ll get two days off on Wednesday December 2 and Thursday December 3, so combined with Commemoration Day, will mean five days off for those that usually have Friday and Saturday as their weekend.

Image: Getty