The last February Ramadan until 2059, and how Dubai lights its evenings

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The first crescent of Ramadan 2027 will be invisible from the UAE, yet astronomers already know the date and the city is planning its evenings

On the evening of Saturday 6 February 2027, the new moon arrives in the UAE sky almost two hours after sunset. Nobody in Dubai will see it. And that invisible moon is exactly how the city already knows when Ramadan begins.

Because the crescent cannot be seen from the UAE that evening, the month before Ramadan is expected to run its full 30 days, the UAE’s Astronomy Centre forecast, according to Khaleej Times. That puts the first day of fasting on Monday 8 February. The official word, as every year, will come from the moon sighting committee.

Four months out is when Dubai starts to plan. Last season the city ran 18 signature experiences across about 30 days, from drone shows over the Creek to night markets, according to the Dubai Media Office. In our experience, the first requests for iftar evenings reach us in the autumn.

Updated 15 October 2026

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Cover Page Agency · Arabic entertainment, DubaiRamadan evenings withArabic calligraphyoud and qanuna tanoura showhenna artistsAyyalah dancean Arabic singerArabic calligraphy

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When does Ramadan 2027 begin in Dubai?

Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin on Monday 8 February. On 10 October 2026, Gulf News reported that the chairman of the Emirates Astronomical Society gives the same date, subject to official moon sighting.

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The month lasts 29 or 30 days. If the next crescent is seen on the evening of 8 March, Eid Al Fitr falls on Tuesday 9 March; if not, on Wednesday 10 March, according to the same Khaleej Times forecast. In the Hijri calendar it is Ramadan 1448.

Why February? The Islamic calendar follows the moon, so each Hijri date arrives about 10 to 12 days earlier in the Gregorian year, The National explains. The moon sighting committee watches on the 29th of each month, and every forecast is a guide until it speaks.

The one fact almost nobody mentions. Ramadan 2027 is the last to begin in February for 32 years. The month slides about 11 days earlier every year, so it starts on 28 January in 2028, and February does not see a first day of Ramadan again until 14 February 2059, according to the AlAdhan Hijri calendar; a second calendar converter we ran gives the same dates. In 2030 the calendar goes further still: Ramadan begins twice in one year, on 5 January and again on 26 December.

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Why will nobody in the UAE see the first crescent?

The astronomical new moon falls at 15:56 UTC on 6 February, according to TheSkyLive. That is 7:56pm in Dubai, when the sun has already set; sunset that week comes at about 6:10pm, our figure from the AlAdhan timetable for Dubai.

A crescent can only be seen once the moon has moved far enough from the sun. On that evening the Ramadan crescent is impossible to see from the UAE, because the moon sets before the sun or the conjunction comes after sunset, the Astronomy Centre told Khaleej Times. So Sha’ban is expected to complete 30 days, and Ramadan to begin on the 8th. The calendar is calculated; the declaration still waits for the committee.

The same new moon draws a ring of fire elsewhere. On 6 February an annular solar eclipse crosses southern South America and the South Atlantic toward West Africa, and annularity lasts up to about 7 minutes 53 seconds, according to NASA eclipse path data. It is not visible from the UAE, Wego notes.

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What makes the moon of Ramadan 2027 special?

Two eclipses bracket the first half of the month: one that Dubai cannot see, and one it can, if it stays up. Here is the moon’s calendar, from the children’s evening that opens the season to Eid.

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Midway through the month, on the night of 20 to 21 February, the full moon passes through the Earth’s outer shadow. It is a penumbral eclipse, about 93 per cent at its peak, which in Dubai comes at 3:13am on 21 February, in the quiet hours before suhoor, according to Wego. Expect a soft dimming, not a red moon.

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How long are the fasting days in 2027?

Short, by Gulf standards. On 8 February the dawn time in Dubai is 5:40am and sunset 6:11pm, about 12 hours 31 minutes, according to the AlAdhan timetable. By 8 March the day runs from 5:19am to 6:27pm, about 13 hours 8 minutes. That is our arithmetic on their times.

In our experience, February evenings are mild enough for outdoor iftars, majlis tents and terraces, which is why the city moves outside after sunset. One practical note: private sector working days are usually two hours shorter during the month, as Arabian Business reported, so plan daytime meetings early.

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How does Dubai tune everyone in before the month?

The month does not start on its first day. In the UAE it opens with children. On the 15th of Sha’ban, known as Hag Al Laila, children in traditional clothes walk the neighbourhood with colourful woven bags, sing and collect sweets and nuts, while families make luqaimat, dumplings soaked in date honey, Gulf News explains. Qatar calls the same evening Garangao, Bahrain Gergaoon. In 2027 it falls around 23 January, our calculation.

Dubai turned that evening into the opening of a season. The Season of Wulfa, announced in January 2026, runs from Hag Al Laila through Ramadan to Eid; the word comes from ulfa, meaning familiarity and affection, the Dubai Media Office said. It brought more than 50 initiatives across over 30 locations, built on three pillars: reflection, connection and blessing.

The markets follow. In 2026 Dubai Municipality opened a Ramadan market on Old Municipality Street in Deira from 17 January to 15 February, selling date products, mukhawer, dukhoon, perfumes and spices.

Then there is the sound. At sunset, cannons mark the end of the fast. In 2026 Dubai Police placed six fixed cannons, at sites from Burj Khalifa to Al Wasl Plaza at Expo City Dubai, and sent a mobile one, Al Rahal, on a tour of 17 locations, Gulf News reported. For one boom, a city of many languages is on the same clock.

Residents who do not fast are drawn in by the rhythm rather than by rules. In our experience, offices empty earlier, the roads fill before sunset, and the evening becomes the main event of the day for everyone, whatever their faith.

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What will Dubai’s Ramadan evenings look like?

The 2027 programme has not been announced. When we checked in mid October 2026 we found no official calendar, so the 2026 edition is the best guide. Ramadan in Dubai 2026 ran for about 30 days with 18 signature experiences, and its organisers described a month shaped by “the way the city comes together each evening”, according to the Dubai Media Office.

• Drone show and fireworks. A citywide Ramadan Drone Show and fireworks at Al Seef and Dubai Creek, 19 February to 19 March 2026, according to Gulf News.
• Ramadan by the Bay. Festival Bay at Dubai Festival City Mall, 18 February to 28 March 2026.
• Hai Ramadan. A family cultural programme at Expo City Dubai, 22 February to 17 March 2026, What’s On listed.
• Ramadan Wonders. Performances and dining at Global Village, 18 February to 18 March 2026.
• A Symphony of Light. At Al Seef and Dubai Festival City Mall, and citywide lighting and lantern displays running into Eid, Gulf News reported.
• Markets and majlis. Souq Ramadan, the Ramadan Street Food Festival, Majlis Under the Stars and SAMRA, Under The Same Moon, all on the Media Office list.

If 2027 follows the same shift as the calendar, these evenings move about ten days earlier, into early February to early March. That is our projection, not an announcement.

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Which Arabic entertainment suits a Ramadan evening?

Ramadan evenings are quieter than a gala and more musical than a dinner. In our experience, the acts that fit are the ones that sit inside the room rather than on a stage: a calligrapher writing each guest’s name in Arabic, an oud or qanun player through iftar, a tanoura dancer after the meal. Cover Page books all of them in Dubai, alongside Ayyalah and Ardah troupes, henna artists, Arabic singers and bands, and an Arabic coffee service.

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Calligraphy works because it turns a guest into a keepsake: a name, a date or a greeting written while they watch. In our experience it is the moment of a brand iftar that guests photograph most. See our Arabic calligraphy and henna artist pages.

Music through iftar should sit under the conversation. The oud and the qanun are the classic choices, and an Arabic singer or Arabic band can take the room once the meal is over.

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After dinner, tanoura dancers turn in wide coloured skirts, and Ayyalah or Ardah troupes bring the Gulf’s heritage dances to a terrace, which in our experience suits Eid gatherings best.

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Where can a newcomer share an iftar?

One of the oldest open invitations in the city sits in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding hosts iftars there under its motto, “open doors, open minds”, and has bridged cultures between Emiratis and residents for over 25 years, according to Khaleej Times.

Guests sit on carpets in the courtyard of a 150 year old wind tower house, break the fast with Khalas dates and gahwa, share an Emirati dinner of machboos, tharid and salona, visit a nearby mosque and end with an open question session; in 2025 it cost Dh180 a person, the same review reported. Volunteers explain the traditions and answer every question, Gulf News wrote of an earlier season. One host called it “more than just a meal”.

Nobody is asked to believe anything. They are asked to sit down.

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How did Ramadan evenings travel to other cities?

What Dubai does at city scale, other cities are now trying street by street. In March 2023 London switched on its first Ramadan lights on Coventry Street, between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, from 22 March to 21 April, a project of the Heart of London Business Alliance with Ramadan Lights and The Aziz Foundation, according to the alliance.

A year later Frankfurt became the first German city to follow, with a “Happy Ramadan” sign and stars, lanterns and crescent moons over a pedestrian street. The councillor behind it said he was inspired by London, Kuwait Times reported.

We cannot show that Dubai lit the way for either city, and nobody involved says so. But the vocabulary is the one Dubai has spoken for years: lanterns, crescents, shared tables, an evening open to anyone. In Dubai that vocabulary fills hotel lobbies, malls, a 17 stop cannon tour and a season named after affection. In London and Frankfurt, so far, it fills one street.

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What should hosts and brands plan for 2027?

Start from sunset, not from the clock. Iftar in Dubai falls at about 6:11pm on the first day and 6:27pm by the last, so every run sheet should begin with the cannon and work outward. Dates and water come first, the meal follows, and the evening runs late.

Book in the autumn. In our experience, the most requested nights are the iftars and suhoors of the first and last weeks, and the hosts who speak Arabic and know the customs are confirmed first.

Dress and imagery set the tone. Modest uniforms with long sleeves, a quiet “Ramadan Kareem” at the door, photographers who work softly around a table: lanterns, coffee, hands and architecture rather than faces at prayer. Our cultural occasion photography in Dubai starts from AED 2,500, and briefed hostesses for brand iftars start from AED 120 an hour with a four hour minimum on our staffing agency Dubai page.

At Cover Page we match each brief with local talent who share the client’s customs and dress preferences, monitored for manner and timing. On 6 February the moon will set unseen; two days later the city will break its first fast together, and by the time the crescent is visible, Dubai will long since have laid the table.

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Ramadan 2027 in Dubai: key facts