By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- Malls and souks across Dubai
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- December to January
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
Announced by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism for the 32nd edition: 45 days from 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027, across the city’s malls and souks. It closes on the same Sunday as the Dubai Marathon. The programme of shows and markets is published nearer the opening; where this page gives details, they are from the last edition.
The Dubai Shopping Festival is a citywide sale with a programme on top: for about six weeks across December and January the malls and souks run discounts and prize draws, and the evenings fill with free shows. At the last edition that meant fireworks every night over Festival Bay, drone shows twice nightly at Bluewaters and JBR, and an outdoor market for the final stretch. It falls in Dubai’s best weather and its most expensive hotel weeks, so for shopping, aim for the stretch after New Year, when the festival is still running and room rates have come down.
What Dubai Shopping Festival actually is
There is no single venue. Retailers across the malls and souks discount at the same time, Dubai runs prize draws for new cars and cash, and the evenings get a free programme of shows, so the festival is less an event to attend than a version of the city to shop in.
The discounts are uneven. Some are genuine end-of-season reductions and some are on prices that went up before they came down, which is why comparing matters more here than speed.
The edition announced for this winter is the 32nd, and it closes on the weekend of the Dubai Marathon.
What to see in the evenings
- Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall, for the fireworks. At the last edition they went up every night at 8:30pm, and the family shows ran on the same waterfront.
- Bluewaters and The Beach at JBR, for the drone shows, which at the last edition flew twice a night, at 8pm and 10pm.
- Hatta, if you are heading to the mountains: at the last edition there were fireworks at the Hatta Sign on Friday and Saturday nights.
- The outdoor market, which at the last edition opened on New Year’s Day for the festival’s final stretch, with local labels, streetwear, vintage clothing and live entertainment.
Tickets and what it costs
There is nothing to pay to take part. The shows and markets at the last edition were free, and the prize draws for cars and cash are listed on the festival’s own raffle page, which explains how each one is entered.
Visitors can claim back most of the VAT, charged at five percent, on qualifying purchases from shops in the tax-refund scheme when they leave the country. On a large purchase that is worth more than many of the advertised reductions.
Official information and booking: www.visitdubai.com/en/festivals-and-events/dsf
Getting there
The Metro is the way between malls, with stations at both Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, and the roads and car parks around them fill up on festival evenings and weekends.
Festival Bay is at Dubai Festival City, across the Creek from the old town, and is simplest by taxi. For Bluewaters and The Beach, take the tram from the Red Line to JBR and walk.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Treating every sale sign as a bargain
Some reductions are real and some prices were raised first. Check the same item in two or three shops, or online, before paying for anything expensive.
Booking New Year week for the shopping
The festival overlaps the dearest hotel week of the year. If the sales are the reason for the trip, the weeks after New Year give you the same festival for less.
Driving between malls on a weekend evening
Mall car parks fill up on festival weekends. Take the Metro, which stops at both of the largest.
Planning around last year’s programme
Shows, markets and their venues are set for each edition and published nearer the opening. Check the official programme before building an evening around a particular show.
Forgetting the tax refund
The VAT refund needs the shop to register your purchase in the tax-free scheme when you pay. Ask at the till, not at the airport.
Other Dubai events
Frequently asked questions
When is the Dubai Shopping Festival?
From early December to mid-January, for about six weeks; Dubai’s tourism department fixes each edition’s dates.
Is the Dubai Shopping Festival free?
Yes. There is no ticket: it is a citywide programme of sales, prize draws and shows, and at the last edition the fireworks, drone shows and outdoor markets were free to watch.
Where are the Dubai Shopping Festival fireworks?
At the last edition, over Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall every night at 8:30pm, and at the Hatta Sign on Friday and Saturday nights. Check this edition’s programme before you go.
Is the Dubai Shopping Festival worth planning a trip around?
If you are coming to shop, yes, and January after the New Year rush is the best value. If you are not, it adds free evening shows to the best weather of the year without changing much else.
Can tourists get VAT back in Dubai?
Yes, most of it, on qualifying purchases from shops in the tax-refund scheme, claimed when you leave the country.
Sources
- Visit Dubai, Dubai Shopping Festival dates
- Visit Dubai, free things to do at the last edition
- Visit Dubai, the festival raffles
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.