UAE Public Holidays
I think end of November and December are the favored months this year for most of us, expats, because of successive public holidays. Few days break is great way to rev up your energy.
So, let’s wrap up the public holidays that took place this December.
Eid Al-Adha
The occasion of Eid Al-Adha was a three day public holiday for private sectors which started on Thursday, November 26 until Saturday, November 28. As the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, the public holidays that fell on weekends were forfeited. Still it was great to be off on Thursday!
By the way, Eid Al-Adha is a three day festivity that takes place at the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage of Muslims in Mecca.
UAE National Day
The 38th National Day of UAE was celebrated last 2nd of December and it was marked by a 45 minutes fireworks. It aimed to hold the record of the world’s longest fireworks in Book of Guinness.
As much as I wanted to go out during National Day to witness the various events, I was traumatized in my experience in 2007. Since then I never go out on this particular day.
This event is always anticipated with grand celebration. The streets are adorned with lights and figures which is ‘38’ this year. It represents the number of years since the country was founded. The cars which are dressed up in the color of UAE flag parade in the streets while the drivers keep sounding their horns. Others wave the flags and banners of UAE flag.
The streets are really packed with people and cars.
This was the reason that took me more than six hours to go home in 2007. I was new in Abu Dhabi and I never thought that it would be a nightmare to go out this time. My friend and I could not find any taxi at all. Desperate to go home, we ended up agreeing to pay Dhs 50 per person to a car owner who took advantage of the situation.
It also took us more than an hour to travel from the mall to my home in which in normal circumstances, it is 15 minutes drive only.
Islamic New Year
It is not yet announced but Islamic New Year may take place between December 17 or 18. If it falls on Thursday, 17th December then it signifies another day off for us.
Honestly, I always look forward for any public holidays because it gives me time to write and complete my projects.
