Site Map

Contact

Search

Home

UAE

Home
Q++ Studio
World Holidays

Downloads
References

About Us
Subscribe
Site Map
Contact
Search
News
Blog
FAQ

Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for UAE

The list of UAE bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

 © 1989-2008 Alter Ego Services

28 Jul 2008 (Xpress News + Dubai Chronicle) Ever since last Wednesday's sole announcement by the Civil Service Council, there had been speculation that this year's Prophet's Ascension Public Holiday would be limited to the public sector. The confusion was dispelled last night, by a circular from the Minister of Labour, Saqr Gobash, declaring Thursday, July 31, 2008, an official public holiday for the private sector to mark Al Isra’a Wal Miraaj. • 15 Jan 2008 (Gulf News) With the the heavy rains of today expected to continue till Wednesday afternoon, schools and universities closed for 2 days, the major roads in Sharjah completely flooded, and work at many construction sites in Sharjah and Ajman stopped, there are reports that the UAE government is considering declaring a one-off public holiday, for Wednesday January 16. • 13 Jan 2008 A public holiday has been declared for all businesses in Dubai on Monday, January 14, as authorities tighten security for US president George W. Bush’s visit to the emirate. All ministries, government departments, schools and private companies in Dubai will also be shut due to the closure of a number of main roads across the city. • 11 Dec 2007 (Arabian Business) All ministries and public departments of the UAE will remain closed for five days, from Tuesday, December 18, to Saturday, December 22, to mark Eid Al Adha, while the private sector will get 3 days off, also beginning on December 18. • 26 Nov 2007 (Gulf News) Last night, the Minister of Labour announced that this year's National Day public holiday would be limited to one day, Sunday, December 2, 2007, for the private sector. It was later announced that the public sector would benefit from a second day, on Monday, December 3, 2007. Banks will be open on both December 1st and 3rd. The Roads and Transport Authority's public parking lots will be exempted from parking fees on both Sunday December 2 and Monday December 3. • 04 May 2007 (Gulf News) The UAE announced that, from next year, workers would be honoured in the UAE on May Day. • 12 Feb 2002 (Emirates News Agency) During yesterday's Cabinet meeting, it was agreed that the 29th day of the month of Ramadan would henceforth become an official public holiday. • More News Updates For up-to-the-minute news about public holidays trends and changes, visit our public holidays news and updates pages, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Since September 2006, weekend days are Fridays and Saturdays, for civil servants. The change is optional for private sector companies. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in UAE, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in UAE that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

Muslim Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for UAE were evaluated using the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia which is used in Saudi Arabia and in most of the Persian Gulf States. Holidays may occur a day later in countries outside the Gulf region. The sunrises, sunsets, moon phases, moonrises and moonsets used in these calculations are based on the location of Mecca (latitude 21.42°N, longitude, 39.82°E, GMT+3 hours, no summer time rules). For more details on Muslim holidays, see Muslim Calendar Holidays. For Salat (prayer times) calculations, see our Freeware page.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for UAE, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of UAE, before planning any trip to UAE. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.