Eid al-Fitr begins with dawn prayers in the open air and runs for three public holidays. Children are given Eidiya, money in envelopes; families visit in order of seniority; the malls and beaches fill; and every emirate stages fireworks and concerts.
For the travel trade it is the year's domestic peak. Residents leave in volume and visitors arrive in volume at the same time, and hotel rates across the Gulf move accordingly.
The planning difficulty is specific and worth stating plainly: the start depends on the sighting of the crescent moon, announced by a moon-sighting committee days or hours ahead. The holiday is therefore known to within one day, not to the day, until very close — which no Gregorian calendar entry can express.
No attendance figure applies.
PlanningSet by the sighting of the new moon, so the exact dates are confirmed only days ahead — which is why airlines and hotels price a range rather than a date.
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.