Updated
Last New Year’s Eve (31 December 2025) the biggest free option was Emaar’s public viewing areas in Downtown Dubai: ten named areas, first come, first served, no ticket. Dubai’s public beaches were for families only that night, and 14 public parks stayed open until 1am.
Emaar has not published its programme or put tickets on sale for 31 December 2026 yet. We update this page the day it does.
The official plan for 31 December 2026 is not out yet, so this season’s beach rules and fireworks locations are not known. Last season it came out on 26 December 2025, and this page changes the same day.
| Area | Kind |
|---|---|
| South Ridge | Family viewing area |
| ACT (1) / ACT (2) | Family viewing area |
| Outer Boulevard | Family viewing area |
| Old Town | Family viewing area |
| Cascade Garden | Family viewing area |
| Zabeel Bachelor | Bachelors viewing area |
| Views Bachelor | Bachelors viewing area |
| Vida Bachelor | Bachelors viewing area |
| Vista Bachelor | Bachelors viewing area |
| Rove Bachelor | Bachelors viewing area |
Source: Emaar’s Downtown Dubai event guide for 31 December 2025. The guide gives no rule for who counts as a family or a bachelor, and does not say which gate or metro station serves which area.
All ten were free, with no ticket or badge. Each one closed to new arrivals when it was full, and no closing time was published.
You entered Downtown through seven numbered gates: Boulevard Heights, Burj Vista, Emaar Square, Former Address Boulevard, Fountain Views, Address Downtown and Vida Dubai Mall.
Emaar told people to arrive before 4pm, when road closures could begin. The National reported that the free areas opened at 5pm; Emaar’s own pages give no opening time.
Come by metro to Financial Centre or Business Bay. Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station was due to close to entry from 5pm, or earlier if full, under RTA’s plan as reported by Khaleej Times.
Not free: Burj Park, the ticketed area, at AED 997.50 per adult. And the Dubai Mall waterfront promenade, which was for diners with a booking and a badge only.
The gates, the food rules and the rest are on our Emaar NYE 2027 page.
To skip the Downtown crowd, Gulf News listed four places where the Burj Khalifa fireworks can be seen from a distance: Dubai Canal Waterfall, Dubai Creek Harbour Viewing Point, Lulu Bridge near Dubai Frame and Al Safa Water Canal Bridge. That is the paper’s own list, not an official one.
The official plan reserved Dubai’s public beaches for families on New Year’s Eve. Dubai Municipality then named four, as reported by Gulf News and Khaleej Times: Jumeirah Beach 2, Jumeirah Beach 3, Umm Suqeim Beach 1 and Umm Suqeim Beach. According to Gulf News the rule ran from 3pm on 31 December 2025 to 6pm on 1 January 2026.
A 2023 Gulf News beach guide says Umm Suqeim 1 Beach is also known as Kite Beach. The reports on the rule itself do not use the names Kite Beach or Sunset Beach. If you are not a family group, do not count on either.
What counts as a family was not stated. Whether the JBR beach was covered is not settled: the list of four does not include it.
Fourteen public parks stayed open until 1am as viewing areas, the official plan said. Gulf News printed hours for the big ones: Al Safa Park and Zabeel Park from 8am to 1am, Creek Park and Mushrif National Park from 8am to midnight, and Al Mamzar Park from 6am to midnight.
Gulf News called the festival fireworks at Bluewaters and The Beach, JBR free to watch, and said they could be seen from the promenade, the beach and nearby restaurants. They were listed for 11:59pm.
Under RTA’s plan, JBR was closed to private cars and open only to pedestrians from 4pm. Access to Bluewaters was to be restricted once the island was full; no report says whether that happened.
Times and car rules are on our JBR and Bluewaters fireworks page.
No official free viewing area on the Palm was found for either season. Gulf News wrote that the Atlantis fireworks are visible along Palm Jumeirah’s Boardwalk and nearby beaches, without saying those places are free, and that access to the Palm is usually controlled later in the evening.
The Pointe is not an option. Its tenants were given notice for redevelopment in May 2023, its fountain closed that month, and the Palm Monorail no longer has a stop there.
Gulf News called the Dubai Shopping Festival’s fireworks free to watch. Besides JBR, its schedule had Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall at 8:30pm every night, and Al Seef and Hatta at 11:59pm on 31 December 2025.
Two family nights with a ticket: Global Village’s seven countdowns were included in its entry ticket, and Expo City Dubai’s event cost AED 150.
Last season 37 help tents were set up at the celebration sites for police help, lost and found, first aid and lost children. Dubai Police’s numbers were 999 for emergencies and 901 for everything else.
Send your group size, your budget and the show you want to watch. We check which tables are on offer and reply in the same chat. It costs you nothing.
Or skip the crowd. These venues take New Year's Eve enquiries now for dinner and a party. None has a fireworks view.
OCCO's own building on Hessa Street in Al Barsha 3: dinner, a terrace and shisha, away from the Downtown crowds. Mocktails and juices, children welcome.
From AED 350 per person guide price
Call +971 50 905 2216
Restaurant and lounge in Al Safa 2, near Jumeirah: live fire kitchen, live sets and shisha until late.
From AED 250 per person guide price
Call +971 4 343 3375
Dinner, a late lounge with a bar and a shisha terrace at Hyde Dubai, on the canal in Business Bay.
From AED 990 per person guide price
Call +971 56 430 5280