Dubai Shopping Festival 2026-2027: dates, venues and tips

1. Dates: what is confirmed as of the date we checked

The festival opens on Friday 4 December 2026 and closes on Sunday 17 January 2027. These dates appear on Visit Dubai’s official festival page and in the press release from the organiser, the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), as carried by Zawya. They replace the calendars in guides that repeat the 2025-2026 edition (5 December to 11 January) or project dates with no source.

The 2026 context still weighs on travel. According to AirHelp, which cites Dubai Airports, the airspace was closed from 28 February 2026, and hotel occupancy fell to 36% in March. The recovery is real but not complete: 869,000 international visitors in August 2026 (6.97 million from January to August), with hotel occupancy at 66% in August (Department of Economy and Tourism, as carried by Gulf News and Khaleej Times, checked on 11 November 2026). To decide whether to go, read our article Dubai in 2026: go or cancel?

The table below separates the confirmed dates from the items that only the specialist press describes. A press item can change: check it on the organiser’s or the venue’s website before you build a programme around it.

Source: Visit Dubai, festival page, What’s On Dubai, 15 October 2026 and the DFRE press release as carried by Zawya, checked on 11 November 2026.

If your question is more about the night of 31 December, our guide to New Year’s Eve in Dubai covers that evening. It does not repeat the activities described on the pages that follow.

2. Malls, souks and sales: where to look for good deals

The heart of the festival is still shopping. The DFRE names Al Futtaim Malls (Dubai Festival City Mall, Festival Plaza), Majid Al Futtaim (Mall of the Emirates, City Centre), Dubai Holding (Souq Al Seef, Bluewaters, Ibn Battuta Mall, Palm Jumeirah Mall, The Outlet Village) and Merex (City Walk, The Beach) as partners. These venues run the campaign, but the press release gives no discount details. The percentages you see in guides, from 25% to « up to 90% », are marketing figures: don’t treat them as a promise.

The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Festival City

Sales and prize draws 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027 About 22°C in December Mornings and weekdays

According to guides, The Dubai Mall is the busiest of the centres named. Mall of the Emirates is described as a little less crowded, and Dubai Festival City Mall hosts Festival Bay, where the evening events take place. Weekends and late December are the busiest periods, according to the guides we checked for this article.

• Start with mornings and weekdays, when the aisles are less packed.
• Keep your passport on you: shops need it to issue the refund form.
• Check each promotion’s dates on the shopping centre’s website: the DFRE does not publish them all.

Pixidia tip: for a short trip between two malls, the street-hail taxi is still the reference fare (AED 5 from 6 am to 10 pm according to the press). Ride-hailing apps add a minimum of AED 13 and peak-time surcharges, higher around malls and event venues.

If you want to bring back something other than a designer bag, the Deira souks (Gold Souk and Spice Souk) are the opposite of a shopping centre: narrow lanes, gold priced on the world market, spices. One guide we consulted says the negotiable part is the making charge, not the gold price shown. Souk opening hours vary between sources: check on the spot.

Dubai City Tour: Old & New Dubai, Abra, Palm Island and SouksPartner link

Best for: travellers who want to see old and new Dubai, and the souks, without arranging the transport themselves. What sets it apart: one tour that combines old and new Dubai, the souks, Palm Island and an abra crossing. Check the time slot when you book. This card is thematic: no Viator product carries the name of the Dubai Shopping Festival.

See dates

3. Raffles and VAT refunds: the two mechanisms to know

Prize draws are the most sought-after part of the festival, and the least documented for 2026-2027. For the previous edition, the DFRE sold raffle tickets for 38 days, from 5 December 2025 to 11 January 2026. The press described a draw with a car and AED 100,000 each day, and a grand prize of AED 400,000 on the last day (Khaleej Times, 30 October 2025). We found no official list of the 2025-2026 winners, nor the result of the grand prize. For 2026-2027, no draw date has been published so far. Those prizes belong to the previous edition: no rule and no prize has been published for 2026-2027 as of the date we checked.

A blog quotes a raffle ticket at AED 100 for 2025-2026, along with sales points (ENOC, ZOOM, DSF kiosks, Global Village). That is a secondary source, so don’t take it as the price or the sales point for this edition. For 2026-2027, no sales point has been published: only buy at the point announced by the DFRE. The warning sign is simple: if someone asks for a tip, a subscription or « transaction fees » to enter, it is not an official draw.

VAT refunds in practice

Tax refunds let you claim back part of the VAT on purchases, provided a form is issued at the time of purchase and you present it at the exit point. According to Gulf News (2026), the refund is now processed in one working day by the digital platform, at DXB, AUH and SHJ airports, and 19,340 shops are connected to the system (end of June 2026).

Two figures still need checking before you buy. First, the refund rate (85% in the guides) and the purchase threshold (AED 250) do not appear in any text we could read for this article: check them on the official u.ae portal, whose pages we could not read for this article. Second, the processing fee per form: FTA decision No. 11/2026, in force from 12 July 2026 and reported by VAT Update, gives AED 3.60; other guides quote AED 4.80. Go by the amount shown at the time of your purchase.

4. Festival Bay, Hatta and d3: the outings beyond shopping

Outside the shopping centres, the programme rests on a few venues described by the specialist press. None is presented as confirmed by the organiser in the press release we read: treat them as leads to verify.

Festival Bay, d3 and Hatta

• DSF Nights: concerts by local artists at Festival Bay, in Dubai Festival City Mall. A Visit Dubai listing mentions an edition on 4 December 2026, to be confirmed.
• DXB Winter Festival: a separate event from the DSF, a Christmas market at Festival Bay from 1 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, according to a secondary source. It does not appear among the DFRE announcements we read for this article, and ticketing and opening hours differ between sources.
• etisalat MOTB: an outdoor market of creators’ fashion, live music and street food at Dubai Design District (d3), from 8 to 24 January 2027 (whatson.ae).
• DSF X Hatta Wadi Hub: food pop-ups, outdoor cinema and free family activities until 17 January 2027 (whatson.ae).

Pixidia tip: Hatta is far from the centre. The trip is long, and an unverified estimate puts it at around an hour and a half. Plan for a full half-day, and don’t pay for a shuttle or a ticket sold outside the official channels.

The etisalat Beach Canteen is new this year, according to whatson.ae, and runs from 10 to 27 December 2026. The two press sources disagree on the venue: whatson.ae says Sunset Beach, while Emirates 24|7 says Nessnass Beach. Check the address before you go.

5. Global Village: the park that runs alongside

Global Village, season 31

AED 25 on weekdays 14 October 2026 to May 2027 Pavilions and food

Global Village is a park of pavilions with its own season: the 31st, which opened on 14 October 2026 and is announced until May 2027 by the press (Siasat, tbreak). Some ticket outlets were cited for last edition’s raffles, but no source we read confirms this for 2026-2027.

The adult entry prices reported are AED 25 from Sunday to Thursday and AED 30 on Friday and Saturday (Siasat). Another source, relayed by HappyFares on 8 October 2026 from Khaleej Times, gives the same prices as last season. Sources don’t agree on what counts as the weekend. The official website could not be read: confirm the price on the spot or on the park’s website.

VIP packs, which are not standard entry, start at AED 1,890, plus a AED 200 pre-order fee (Emirates 24|7). Fake VIP scams come back every season: only pay through the park’s official channels.

6. Budget: the costs to plan for

The festival has no entry ticket, and the DFRE publishes no price. Your budget therefore depends on your purchases, paid outings and travel. The table gathers the amounts we found, with their level of reliability.

Source: press and secondary sources cited in each row, checked on 11 November 2026. No amount comes from an official site we could read for this article; FTA decision No. 11/2026 is relayed by VAT Update.

Tickets for the Burj Khalifa observation deck and the Dubai Aquarium are sold by resellers, at widely varying prices, and the official sites could not be read for this article. According to resellers (not official), the Burj Khalifa, level 124/125, costs between AED 149 and 249 (March 2026 figure), about €46 at Tiqets (9 October 2026). According to the same kinds of sources (not official), the Dubai Aquarium varies from AED 135 to 250 depending on the pass. Don’t budget on a reseller price without confirming it on the venue’s own site.

The tourist tax is charged per room per night, not per person. A suspension announced in May 2026 by The National was not confirmed by the Department of Economy and Tourism: check the line on your hotel bill before you book.

The metro has not published a regular winter timetable that we could read for this article, only holiday hours. Don’t count on it for a late return without checking the timetable on the RTA website.

7. Weather, dress and entry rules

Average readings are about 22°C in December, with highs near 26°C and lows near 16°C, then about 19°C in January (highs near 24°C, lows near 14°C). Rain is rare. Evenings are cool, around 15°C according to our sources: pack a light layer for outdoor shows. These are rough figures from climate aggregators.

There is no strict legal dress code for tourists, but correct dress is expected: shoulders and knees covered in malls, restaurants, souks and public buildings. Swimwear is fine on the beach and by the pool; topless is banned.

Visa. For UK passport holders, the FCDO’s UAE entry requirements page on gov.uk (checked on 11 November 2026) says a visitor visa is issued free of charge on arrival, so there is nothing to apply for in advance. A stay can last up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and you can split it across several visits. Your passport must be valid for at least six months after your arrival date. Check the rules for your own passport on gov.uk before you book, and again before you travel.

Travel advice. The FCDO’s travel advice for the UAE is the reference for UK travellers. We read its entry requirements for this article; check the full page when you book, and again before you leave.

8. Scams, alcohol and local rules

On 24 December 2025, Dubai Police warned about fake websites and social media accounts selling tickets for concerts, events and trips (Gulf News, Gulf Today). They ask you to buy only through official platforms, and to report fraud through the Dubai Police app, by calling 901, or via the eCrime platform.

For the festival, the rule is simple: only pay for and share links published by the DFRE, by the shopping centres’ own websites or on official platforms. We found no warning specific to the 2026-2027 edition. Fake winner announcements exist for other draws: don’t trust an announcement that does not come from the organiser.

On alcohol, drinking is allowed in licensed venues (hotels, restaurants, bars) from age 21, and it is banned to drink in the street or to take an open bottle out of a licensed venue. These rules come from the travel guides we read for this article; they do not replace the official texts.

What other guides don’t tell you

Mainstream guides often mix up the 2025-2026 edition with projections. Three points, checked against their sources on the date of consultation, are not taken for granted by these guides.

• Projected calendars are not dates. Some guides give 6 December to 12 January, or 15 December to 29 January: these projections rest on no official source. Visit Dubai, festival page gives 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027 (checked on 11 November 2026).
• The 2026-2027 fireworks and drone shows are not confirmed. What’s On Dubai writes that they are « yet to be confirmed », while some guides describe drones over Bluewaters or The Beach, which matches the 2025-2026 edition. What’s On Dubai, 15 October 2026 (checked on 11 November 2026).
• The 2025-2026 prizes do not apply to this edition. Several guides present the AED 400,000 grand prize and the Mega Raffle as current. The DFRE press release on the 31st edition, of which we read only an extract (page not opened), describes the raffle tickets of the previous edition, sold over 38 days. Checked on 11 November 2026.