…and it’s a gem!

In May 2024, the UAE Cabinet released the public holiday calendar for 2025, showing all the official days off we’ll have next year.

As with previous years, it includes all the fixed days off on the Gregorian calendar and the holidays based on the lunar calendar, which depend on moon sightings.

Along with the announcement of the UAE public holidays for 2025, a new resolution was introduced under Part Two of UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024. This resolution will bring changes to how some public holidays are announced starting next year.

Under the new resolution, if a public holiday lands on the weekend, it “may be moved to the start or end of the week by a Cabinet decision.” This applies to all UAE public holidays except Eid. So, if a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, an additional day off will be announced for the preceding Friday or the following Monday.

The resolution also states that “local governments may grant additional official holidays not listed in this resolution for their departments and institutions on special occasions or for other reasons.” This means that next year could bring extra public holidays,  potentially specific to individual emirates.