UAE public holidays and the trade they bring

A neighbourhood bistro plans the Eid Al Adha long weekend as it planned National Day: extra staff, extra stock and a full diary expected. The diary never fills. Half its regulars have flown home for the holiday, the office crowd that fills its lunches is on leave and the kitchen throws away a cold room of prep. Twenty minutes away, a beach venue on the same weekend turns guests away from the door, because the visitors arriving for the holiday all want the same thing.

UAE public holidays change trade, but not in the same direction for every venue. Some holidays fill a room and others empty it; the same holiday can do both, depending on where the venue is and who its guests are. Islamic holidays move earlier through the Gregorian year and are confirmed close to the date, which makes them harder to plan than a fixed date on the calendar.

This guide covers the holidays themselves, which kinds of venue each tends to fill or empty, how to forecast them from your own past trade, and the staff rota, orders and prep each one needs. The trade patterns described are tendencies, not rules: your own figures from past holidays are the best guide. Every venue and figure in it is an example.

The official list, published on the government portal u.ae, applies to both the public and private sectors. It sets these holidays:

Two of the holidays, New Year and National Day, follow the Gregorian calendar and fall on the same dates every year. The others follow the Islamic calendar, whose year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian one, so they arrive about eleven days earlier each year and travel through the seasons over the decades.

For a venue, that means a holiday that fell in the cool, busy months a few years ago may now fall in the summer, when trade is quieter and many residents are away. Plan each Islamic holiday for the season it falls in this year, not the one it fell in when you last remember it.

Islamic holidays are determined by the sighting of the moon, so their exact dates are confirmed close to the day. A venue knows roughly when Eid will fall weeks in advance, but it may only know the first day for certain a day or two before.

Plan for both possible dates. Build the rota with both in mind, order stock that keeps for the extra day and tell guests who book for "the first day of Eid" that the booking will follow the confirmed date. Our guide to Eid bookings and the week either side covers how to run the diary through the uncertainty.

According to the u.ae portal, under Article 3 of Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, a public holiday is not moved to another day when it falls on the weekend or coincides with another holiday. A holiday on a weekend day simply adds nothing to the days off.

That makes the shape of each year's holidays different. A holiday that falls in the middle of the week gives most guests a single day off; one next to the weekend makes a long weekend; one on the weekend itself changes little. Check where each holiday falls this year before deciding how busy it will be.

Every holiday does two things at once. It gives residents time off, some of whom go out more and some of whom leave the country. And it brings visitors, from elsewhere in the UAE, from the Gulf and from further away, who arrive for the long weekend.

Which effect wins depends on the venue. A venue whose guests are mostly residents who travel at holidays may empty. One whose guests are visitors, families on a day out or residents who stay may fill. The same holiday can be a venue's best weekend and its neighbour's worst.

Ask who your guests are. Office workers who come for lunch on weekdays are away from the office on a holiday. Residents from abroad often travel home for the Eid holidays, especially when they make a long weekend. Families who stay go out together, often earlier in the day. Visitors arriving for a long weekend fill hotels, beaches, malls and the places around them.

A venue in a business district may be quiet at lunch and busy in the evening; a venue near the beach or in a mall may be busy all day; a neighbourhood venue may lose its regulars but gain families. Your own past holidays show which you are.

New Year's Day follows the busiest night of the year, and its trade reflects that. Mornings are usually quiet, as guests recover from the night before, and late breakfasts, brunches and relaxed lunches can be busy. Venues that served until late on New Year's Eve often open later, or with a lighter menu, on the day itself.

Plan the team around the night before. A team that closed at three in the morning cannot open a busy brunch at ten. Our guide to New Year in Dubai: the night everything is booked covers the night itself.

Eid Al Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, and it is a time of celebration with family and friends. In many venues, the first morning is quiet while families attend prayers and visit relatives, and trade builds through the afternoon and evening, with families and groups eating out together.

After a month of iftar and suhoor services, Eid also brings the venue's normal hours back, often with a rush of guests who have waited a month to return. Plan the menu, the team and the stock for the change from Ramadan's pattern to the holiday's, which can happen with only a day's notice.

Arafah Day comes before Eid Al Adha, and it is a day of fasting for many Muslims who are not on the pilgrimage. For venues with many Muslim guests, the daytime may be quiet and the evening busier, as guests break their fast at sunset.

Because it falls the day before Eid Al Adha, Arafah Day is often the start of the long holiday. Many residents travel on or before it, and the venue's trade over the following days is shaped by who leaves and who arrives.

Eid Al Adha is the longer of the two Eid holidays, and with Arafah Day before it, it often makes the longest break of the year. Families celebrate together, often with large meals at home, and many residents take the chance to travel.

For venues whose guests travel, it can be one of the quietest weeks of the year. For venues that serve visitors, families or groups who stay, it can be one of the busiest. The difference between those two outcomes is the most important thing to know before planning.

Hijri New Year, the first day of Muharram, is a quieter holiday than the Eids, without the same large gatherings. For most guests it is simply a day off, and trade tends to look more like a weekend day than a festival.

Plan it like a weekend day for your venue: a weekday lunch trade may thin out, and a relaxed lunch or dinner trade may rise. If it falls next to the weekend, treat it as a short long weekend.

The Prophet Mohammed's birthday is a day of reflection and a day off for most guests. Like Hijri New Year, it tends to change trade less than the Eids, and many venues find it behaves like a weekend day.

Be respectful in marketing and in tone. It is not an occasion for party promotions, and a venue that treats it as one will be noticed for the wrong reasons.

National Day, on 2 and 3 December, celebrates the founding of the union in 1971. It falls in the cool season, when the weather invites guests outside, and the celebrations, decorations and events across the country bring many guests out to eat and celebrate.

Venues near celebrations, events and fireworks are often at their busiest; roads and parking around them can be crowded, which affects guests' access and the team's journey to work. Plan the rota and the deliveries around the traffic as well as the covers.

A holiday next to the weekend makes a long weekend, and long weekends change trade more than single days. Residents travel more, visitors arrive more, and the pattern of the weekend stretches across three or four days.

Plan a long weekend as one block, not as separate days. The first evening may be quiet as residents leave; the middle days busy with visitors and families who stayed; the last evening quiet again as guests prepare for the week. Your own past long weekends show your shape.

Public holidays sit inside the wider seasonal trade of the year: the cool months with their visitors and terraces, the summer with its quieter weeks, and Ramadan with its own pattern. A holiday in December behaves differently from one in July, even if it is the same holiday a few years apart.

School holidays matter too, although they are not public holidays. When schools close, families travel or spend more time out together, and a public holiday inside a school break behaves differently from one in term time. Our guide to seasonal trade: mapping your own restaurant year covers how to build the whole year's picture.

Many local events gather around the holidays: celebrations and fireworks for National Day and New Year, concerts, festivals, markets and family events over the Eid weekends. An event near the venue can fill it; one across the city can empty it, as guests go where the event is.

Find out what is planned near you before each holiday, from the local news, the event organisers and neighbouring businesses. Our guide to local events: the match night nobody told the kitchen covers how to keep an events calendar the whole team uses.

The best guide to a holiday is the same holiday last year, and the year before. For the Gregorian holidays, that means the same dates. For the Islamic holidays, it means the same holiday, not the same date: last year's Eid fell about eleven days later in the calendar, and comparing this year's Eid with last year's same date compares it with an ordinary week.

Find each holiday's dates in past years, look at the covers, the sales and the pattern through the day, and note what was different: the weather, the season, events nearby and where the holiday fell against the weekend.

Build a covers forecast for each holiday from that history. Start with the covers on the same holiday last year, adjust for how the venue's normal trade has changed since, and adjust again for this year's differences: a long weekend instead of a single day, a different season, an event nearby.

Forecast by service, not just by day: a quiet Eid morning and a busy Eid evening need different teams and different prep. Our guide to a covers forecast your kitchen will believe covers the method, and a holiday is where a careful forecast saves the most.

The staff rota for a holiday has two problems at once: the venue may need more people, or fewer, than usual, and the team wants time off for the same holidays as everyone else. Many team members want to travel or celebrate with family, and those who work want the hours to be fair.

Build the holiday rota from the forecast, early, and share it well in advance. Ask the team for their preferences before the rota is written, rather than after. Our guide to a staff rota that survives first contact covers how to build one that holds.

Fairness across the year matters more than fairness at any one holiday. A team member who works Eid Al Fitr might have Eid Al Adha off; one who works National Day might have New Year's Day. Keep a record of who worked which holiday, and use it when writing the next rota.

For many team members, Eid is the most important holiday of the year, and the chance to spend it with family matters more than extra pay. A venue that plans fairly, and keeps its promises, keeps its team through the holidays that follow.

UAE labour law sets what employees are owed when they work on a public holiday, and the rules can include a day off in lieu or extra pay. Check the current rules with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation or your adviser, and build the cost into the holiday's planning.

A busy holiday can still earn well after its higher staff costs; a quiet one with a full team can lose a great deal. The forecast decides which, and it should come before the rota, not after.

Suppliers have holidays too. Many reduce or stop deliveries over the Eids and National Day, and markets may close or change their hours. A venue that expects to order on the first day of Eid may find nobody to deliver.

Ask each supplier for their holiday schedule well in advance, and plan the orders around it: larger deliveries before the holiday for the items that keep, and fresh items ordered for the first delivery day after it. Check the cold room's space before ordering extra, because a delivery that cannot be stored properly is a food safety problem.

A busy holiday needs more prep, and the prep needs to start earlier. Work out the prep from the forecast, by service, and schedule it across the days before the holiday so the kitchen is not trying to prepare a long weekend's food on the morning it begins.

Simplify where you can. A shorter holiday menu with dishes that the kitchen can serve quickly at volume, and a few prepared ahead, keeps the pass moving when every table is full. A busy holiday is not the moment to launch new dishes.

A quiet holiday needs less prep, and the biggest risk is preparing for a normal day anyway. Cut the prep to the forecast, order less of what does not keep and plan for the quiet days as carefully as for the busy ones.

A quiet holiday is also an opportunity. With fewer covers, the team can deep clean the kitchen, service the equipment, train new team members or test the next season's dishes. A day planned that way is not a lost day.

Decide the holiday hours early: whether the venue opens, when it opens and closes, and whether the menu changes. Then tell guests everywhere they look: the website, the booking page, the venue's listing on search and maps, social media and the door.

Guests who arrive at a closed venue on a holiday rarely forgive it, and those who find out from an out-of-date listing blame the venue. Update every place the hours appear, and change them back when the holiday ends.

On busy holidays, the diary fills early, and the venue should be ready for it. Decide in advance how many covers each service can take, how long tables are held and whether larger groups are accepted at the busiest times.

On holidays that tend to be quiet, the diary may tell the venue early that the forecast was right. Watch it as the holiday approaches: a diary filling faster than last year is a sign to add staff and stock; one filling slower is a sign to cut back before the costs are committed.

Each holiday suits a different menu. Eid invites family-style sharing dishes and festive desserts; National Day invites local flavours and dishes that celebrate the country; New Year's Day invites relaxed brunch and comfort food. A special menu also gives guests a reason to book.

Keep a holiday menu short and practical. It should be easy to prepare at volume, use ingredients that can be delivered before the suppliers close and fit the kitchen's capacity on the busiest day.

Tell regulars about the holiday plans early: the hours, the special menu and how to book. For busy holidays, early marketing fills the diary before the rush; for quiet ones, a well-timed offer can bring in guests who stayed in the country.

Match the tone to the holiday. Eid and National Day are celebrations; the Prophet's birthday and Hijri New Year are more reflective. Our guide to festive bookings: open the diary in September covers how far ahead to start for the busiest season.

After each holiday, record what happened: the covers by service, the sales, the waste, the staff hours and anything that made it different, such as the weather, an event or where it fell against the weekend. Compare the result with the forecast.

These notes are the forecast for next year. A venue that records each holiday for three years knows how its holidays behave better than any rule of thumb, and plans each one with less guesswork and less waste.

An invented group runs two venues: a bistro in a residential neighbourhood and a grill near the beach. For Eid Al Adha, falling next to the weekend this year, the group looks at the same holiday last year. The bistro's covers fell by a third, with a quiet first evening and a family lunch trade; the grill's rose by half, with visitors from the first morning.

The group plans accordingly. The bistro runs a short family lunch menu, closes earlier in the evening, cuts its prep and gives half the team the holiday off. The grill adds staff, orders extra stock before the suppliers close and opens earlier for breakfast. Both venues finish the holiday close to their forecasts, and the bistro's waste falls to a fraction of the year before.

servearound has no holiday calendar and no setting for one-off closures or holiday hours: shifts hold days of the week and times only, so a holiday's special hours, and any listing that shows them, are managed by the team. It does not update Google or other listings, and staff rotas are coming but not yet in it.

What it holds is the history a holiday forecast is built from. Reservation analytics show covers by day and by day and hour for any custom date range, so last year's holiday can be looked up by its own dates and compared with this year's by hand, and holiday campaigns can be scheduled up to 90 days ahead on the venue's clock. See Reservations and Analytics.

New Year, Eid Al Fitr, Arafah Day, Eid Al Adha, Hijri New Year, the Prophet's birthday and National Day, as listed on u.ae.

They follow the Islamic calendar, about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, and are confirmed by moon sighting.

It depends on who your guests are. Your own trade on past holidays is the best guide.

Compare the same holiday, not the same date, for the Islamic holidays.

From last year's covers on the same holiday, adjusted for this year's season, events and where it falls against the weekend.

Ask for preferences early and rotate who works each holiday across the year.

Ask for their holiday schedules early, and order ahead for the days they are closed.

Cut the prep, and use the time for cleaning, maintenance and training.

UAE public holidays change trade, but not the same way for every venue: some fill a room and others empty it, depending on whether guests travel, stay or arrive. The Islamic holidays move about eleven days earlier each year and are confirmed close to the day, so plan for both possible dates and for the season each one falls in this year.

Build a covers forecast for each holiday from the same holiday in past years, check local events and seasonal trade around it, and write the staff rota from the forecast, fairly and early. Order around the suppliers' closures, prep to the forecast, tell guests the hours everywhere and record what happened, because this year's notes are next year's plan.