Abu Dhabi celebrates Halloween with family events across malls to promenades

Abu Dhabi: Halloween in Abu Dhabi doesn’t look much like it does elsewhere. There’s no single street of porch lights and pumpkins. It tends to happen in pockets: a hotel brunch, a restaurant with a themed menu, a few neighbourhoods where children go door to door. Much of it is held indoors, around tables rather than on pavements.

However, the most structured programmes are found in the city’s malls.

Across the emirate

Sheikha Fatima Park in Al Bateen is hosting a family-friendly “Halloween at the Park” event on the October 31. Kids will have the opportunity to explore Trick or Treat Adventure, Pop-up market, and even a scary magician show.

The indoor celebrations are more curated. Reem Mall on Al Reem Island is hosting a family event called “Frightfully Fun Halloween,” with participation tied to a spending requirement.

The Mall has an exclusively trick or treat hunt happening only on Saturdays between 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, where the residents in the area join the crowd dressed in costumes and makeup.  

Participants can then collect stamps from specific stores across the mall to redeem their Halloween treat.  If you haven’t planned your Halloween weekend yet, this is your last chance to grab the opportunity.

To take part, visitors must spend AED 200 in the mall and keep their receipts. Participants must then register at the Community Canvas on Level 1, near The Bear House, where staff validate the receipts and hand out an official Halloween map.

Elsewhere in the city, the World Trade Centre (WTC) Abu Dhabi has put on events and parties for children and adults over the Halloween weekend, from October 29 to 31. WTC has put on events and parties for kids over the Halloween weekend, October 29 to 31. Where the kids can explore face painting, photo booth, spooky slushy, scary snacks and even win a best costume prize.

Tickets cost AED 100 per child for those who booked by October 29, rising to AED 120 on the day, according to the event details. Booking is done online.

Mamsha Al Saadiyat celebrates Halloween

Away from the malls, the mood on Saadiyat Island is quieter.

On the seafront promenade of restaurants and cafés facing the sea, families marked the occasion with décor and music. Ting Irie brought a festive mood to the beachfront, while children in the residential areas went trick-or-treating on October 29.

The appeal lies in the setting: an October evening, once the worst of the heat has gone. It fits the setting, because a costume feels less out of place when the backdrop is the sea and not a ballroom. Nobody has to stage a spectacle. Children in costume mix with couples out for dinner, and the evening passes at the pace of the water beside it.

Staff at the promenade said the area drew young trick-or-treaters. “Yesterday on October 29, we had children from the residence area, walking around in costume,” said Joanne Labrador, staff at Massimos Café at Mamsha Al Saadiyat.

She said the sight of the kids dressed as fairies, Disney princesses and some even carry axes, looked cute.

Despite being away from the spooky celebrations of their home country, the activities are mostly calm and personal here. They decorate their own spaces within the community and hold activities, in their comfort space. Halloween at Mamsha belongs to the people and restaurants who choose to mark it.