UAE: Will the 2025 Eid Al Etihad holiday give residents a four-day or five-day break?

Dubai: UAE residents have just one last public holiday left in 2025, according to the official holiday calendar announced by the UAE Cabinet. In May 2024, the Cabinet released the full list of public holidays for 2025, outlining both Gregorian and Islamic dates.

Eid Al Etihad holiday 2025

After September, the final official public holidays will take place in December for UAE National Day. These holidays are fixed and fall on:

• Tuesday, December 2, and

• Wednesday, December 3

There is a possibility of a long five-day break, if the UAE government announces Monday, December 1 as an additional day off, effectively extending the weekend from Friday, November 28 to Wednesday, December 3.

However, last year the public holiday fell on on Monday, December 2, and Tuesday, December 3, 2024, with official work resuming on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. With Saturday and Sunday already part of the regular weekend, the break was four-day break.

Regardless, the length of the public holiday will only be confirmed closer to the date.

How UAE public holidays are determined

Under Cabinet Resolution No. (27) of 2024, the UAE Cabinet has the authority to move public holidays, except for Eid holidays, to the start or end of the workweek through an official resolution.

The law also allows local governments to declare additional holidays for their departments and entities for specific occasions or other reasons.

• Gregorian holidays such as New Year’s Day and National Day follow the standard calendar.

• Islamic holidays are based on the Hijri calendar and require official moon sightings.

• The Cabinet may shift non-Eid holidays to create long weekends.

This article was published on July 11, 2025 and has been updated since.