When is the next UAE public holiday?
We’ve got a little while to wait for the next one
We’re in the middle of Eid Al Fitr 2025, but if you’re wondering when the next one is… well, we have good and bad news.
The bad is that we’ve got a little while to wait until we get to the next one – most likely beginning of June for Arafat Day and Eid Al Adha. But the good news is, when it arrives, it should be a pretty long old time off. More on that to follow…
UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, published in the Official Gazette (the sanctioned dispatch of laws and decrees issued by the UAE Government), details the government’s plans for both public and private holidays in 2025.
What are the UAE public holidays for 2025?
The UAE public and private sector holidays confirmed for 2025 will include:
- As has been the tradition in recent years, a one-day holiday on January 1 (Wednesday), 2025, celebrating the Gregorian New Year
- A three-day holiday for Eid Al Fitr from Shawwal 1-3 (moon sighting dependent). An extra day may be added if Ramadan completes 30 days.
- There will be one day off for Arafat Day (Dhu Al Hijjah 9) and three further days for Eid Al Adha (Dhu Al Hijjah 10 to 12).
- One day will be given for Islamic New Year (falling on Muharram 1, Gregorian Calendar date to be confirmed).
- The calendar provides holidays for Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) birthday (falling on Rabi Al Awwal 12, Gregorian Calendar date to be confirmed).
- It also appears that next year we will be getting December 2 and 3 (Tuesday and Wednesday), to honour Commemoration Day and to celebrate the UAE’s 54th Eid Al Etihad (what was formally National Day).
What are the likely dates in the Gregorian Calendar?
If you want to get a head start on booking up those leave days, you’ll need to know the Gregorian Calendar (that’s the traditional 12 solar month format of January, February, etc.) dates that correspond with those of the Hijri (or Islamic) Calendar laid out in the provisions above.
Because the Islamic Calendar is based on moon phase cycles – rather than the solar orbit-based, 365.25 day year of the Gregorian calendar – the two calendars are unsynchronised and so the dates will change relative to one another with each passing year. For example, Eid al Fitr started on April 21 in 2023, and then in 2024 it began on April 10.
There also needs to be a final ‘by the eye’ confirmation of the particular lunar phase before certain Islamic holidays can officially commence. The Moon Sighting Committee needs to physically be able to see the shape of the moon. That means although we can offer fairly reliable predictions, we cannot 100 per cent guarantee the Gregorian holiday dates.
With all that in mind, these are the likely Gregorian calendar dates of UAE public and private holidays in 2025:
- Gregorian New Year’s Day, is Wednesday, January 1, 2025 so that was given as a holiday.
Ramadan 2025 in the UAE started on Saturday, March 1, 2025.
The UAE Cabinet resolution No. 27 of 2024 states that “in the event the Month of Ramadan completes (30) days, day (30) of Ramadan shall be deemed as an official holiday added to the Eid-Al-Fitr holiday.”
But what about Eid dates in 2025?
- Due to the moon sighting on March 29, Eid Al Fitr began in the UAE on Sunday, March 30 2025.
- Current predictions show that the holiday dates will begin on Thursday June 5 with Arafat Day followed by Eid Al Adha 2025 on Friday June 6, Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8.
- That would put Islamic New Year “on Friday, June 27”. Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) birthday will then fall on Monday, September 1.
There will also be holidays for Commemoration Day and UAE Union Day (formally National Day):
- We’ll be given two days for the 2025 UAE Union Day celebrations, falling on Tuesday, December 2, to Wednesday, December 3.
What if those holidays fall on a weekend?
The second part of resolution No. 27 of 2024 states that “with the exception of Eid holidays, any of the official holidays mentioned in article No.1 may be carried over by a Cabinet decision to the beginning or end of the week”.
There’s also a resolution inclusion that declares “local governments may approve any other official holidays not mentioned in this resolution for their government departments and institutions on special occasions or for any other reason.”
