Eid al-Adha marks the end of the Hajj and commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. It is the greater of the two Eids and carries four public holidays in the UAE, with prayers, the ritual sacrifice and the distribution of meat to the needy, and family gathering on the same scale as Eid al-Fitr.
Many Emirati families are away on pilgrimage or travelling, which gives the week a different texture from Eid al-Fitr: quieter domestically, and heavier on outbound flights.
As with Eid al-Fitr, the dates follow the lunar calendar and are confirmed close to the event. The Day of Arafat immediately before is also a holiday.
No attendance figure applies.
PlanningFour public holidays set by the Hajj calendar; like Eid al-Fitr, confirmed by moon sighting only days ahead.
Dates
calendar conversion — may move a day
Computed from the recurrence rule we record for this entry, not copied from a listing. A date marked ~ comes from a calendar conversion and the observance may fall a day or two either side.