Where to Watch Diwali Fireworks in Dubai 2026: 4 Places and Times

Diwali Fireworks in Dubai in 2026

This guide takes you through the four places to watch the sky this Diwali: one confirmed fireworks show, one drone show and two places to watch for. Each one comes with its 2026 status, past times, where to stand, how to get there and videos. You can then compare times, see other shows to watch for, and read about Sharjah and what to light at home instead of crackers.

ALSO READDiwali in Dubai 2026 🪔14 GUIDES

START HEREDiwali in Dubai 2026: Date and Where to Celebrate

Celebrate Diwali in Dubai6 to 10 Nov · events on

Diwali Celebrations in Dubai

Diwali Fireworks in DubaiREADING NOW

Global Village Drone ShowDiwali Parties in DubaiDiwali Events for Kids

Diwali Food and ShoppingDinners 29 Oct to 15 Nov

Diwali Dinner in DubaiDiwali Shopping in Dubai

Diwali at the TemplesPujas 6 to 10 Nov

Hindu Temples on DiwaliHindu Temple DubaiBAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi

Diwali at Home and at WorkOrder early

Diwali Party at HomeDiwali Catering in DubaiCorporate Diwali Gifts

1. Noor Diwali Fireworks at Souk Al Seef, Bur Dubai

Souk Al Seef will host the one Diwali fireworks show confirmed in Dubai for 2026.

Souk Al Seef is an old-style market along the Dubai Creek in Bur Dubai. It has narrow lanes of shops and cafés and a long promenade by the water.

For the last two years, Dubai's official Diwali fireworks have started here.

• In 2025, the show went up at 9pm on Friday 17 October, the first night of Noor.
• In 2024, it was at 9pm on 25 October.

This year, Noor will return on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November, from 6pm to 11pm. There will be a fireworks display set to music on one of the two nights. Noor will name the night and the time closer to the date. Entry is free, but you register first on the Noor website, where you choose the night you will go.

Can you only go once? Pick Sunday 8 November, which is Diwali night itself. The procession, music and dance will run on both evenings anyway.

The fireworks go up over the Creek. These tips will help you see them well:

• Where to stand: the waterfront promenade, where you see the colours reflected in the water
• When to arrive: by 8pm, because the crowd comes early
• How to get there: the Metro to BurJuman, a 10 to 15 minute walk away, as the car parks fill up on a festival night

This is how last year's show looked from the promenade:

2:56

4:12

For a short clip, watch the 2025 Al Seef fireworks on Instagram.

2. Diwali Drone Show at Global Village, Dubailand

Global Village will mark Diwali in 2026 with a drone show, not fireworks.

Global Village is Dubai's big outdoor park of country pavilions, food stalls and stages. It opens every evening in the cooler months. Its India Pavilion has marked Diwali with fireworks for years.

• In 2025, there were four displays at 9pm, on 18, 19, 24 and 25 October, all on weekend nights.

This year, the park will light up the sky in a new way.

A 600-drone show at 8pm on Sunday 8 November will draw Diwali shapes above the Stunt Arena and the Syria Pavilion. It is the biggest Diwali light show planned in the city this year.

Here is how to plan the evening:

• Find your spot: be there by about 7.30pm, somewhere with a clear view of the sky over the Stunt Arena and the Syria Pavilion
• Ticket: your normal entry ticket covers the drone show and the five-day Diwali mela
• By car: there is no Metro station, so many people drive and use the free car parks
• By bus: RTA bus 103 from Union runs most often of the four bus routes

These two videos show the park's Diwali fireworks in 2025 and 2024:

16:09

12:51

3. Diwali Fireworks at Riverland, Dubai Parks and Resorts

Riverland has not announced Diwali fireworks for 2026, but it held them last year and is expected to again.

Riverland is the dining and walking area at Dubai Parks and Resorts, and it is free to enter. It runs along a river between the theme parks, and one part of it is built like a French village.

• In 2025, it held its own Diwali celebration. There were fireworks at 9.30pm on 17, 18 and 19 October, the Friday to Sunday before Diwali.

Last year, you could make a whole day of it. The resort sold Diwali park tickets to UAE residents from AED 99 for one park or AED 149 for two, so you could enjoy the rides all afternoon and stay on for the show. Walking into Riverland itself costs nothing. Dubai Parks and Resorts shares its Diwali plans on its website and Instagram. Look there in the first days of November.

Riverland is the furthest of the four from the city. It is about 40 minutes by car from Downtown, on Sheikh Zayed Road towards Abu Dhabi. No car? Take the Red Line to Ibn Battuta, then the DPR1 bus to the gate.

Here is last year's show:

3:32

7:22

4. Diwali Fireworks at Dubai Festival City, Festival Bay

Dubai Festival City has not announced Diwali fireworks for 2026. It held them in past years, so it is one to watch. Festival City is the mall and waterfront district on the Deira side of the Creek. Its shops open onto Festival Bay.

• It held Diwali fireworks at 9.30pm on 4 November 2021.
• On Sunday 23 October 2022, the eve of Diwali that year, it put on fireworks with a laser show.
• No Diwali fireworks were reported there in 2024 or 2025.

So why go? Because the mall's free IMAGINE show runs every evening from 7pm. Water fountains, lights, lasers and fire light up the bay. With small children, it is a calm and easy way to see lights on Diwali night. If the fireworks come back, watch from the bay-side promenade or the restaurants facing the water.

These are its last two Diwali shows:

3:47

11:07

Here is how the four places compare on cost and on getting there:

Diwali Fireworks Times in Dubai: 2026 and Past Years

In the last two years, every Diwali fireworks show in Dubai started at 9pm or 9.30pm. Until this year's times come out, that is your best guide. Here are the past dates side by side:

Look at the dates and you will notice two things. First, the shows usually fall on Friday and Saturday nights, not always on Diwali night itself. The city plans them around the weekend. Second, they are announced late. In 2025, the full list came out on 7 October, only ten days before the first show.

More Diwali Fireworks to Watch For in Dubai

Dubai's Festival of Lights says it will add fireworks at more places this year, but the venues are not out yet. Until they are, keep an eye on these shows in early November. Some are new plans, and some are places that held Diwali fireworks in past years:

Some gated communities also hold small fireworks of their own for residents, as several did in 2025. These are private events with a permit. To find out about one, ask your community or building management, not the city.

Diwali fireworks in Sharjah

Live in Sharjah? No Diwali fireworks have been reported in Sharjah in 2024, 2025 or so far in 2026. Al Majaz Waterfront does hold public fireworks, but on New Year's Eve, not on Diwali. Your nearest public Diwali show is usually the one at Al Seef in Bur Dubai.

How to Plan a Diwali Fireworks Night in Dubai

A fireworks show lasts only a few minutes. So plan for two things. Get there on time, and make sure you can get home easily afterwards.

Still not sure where to go? Find yourself in one of these:

Can You Burst Crackers in Dubai on Diwali?

No. Private fireworks and crackers are illegal in the UAE, wherever you are. That includes your home, your balcony, the beach and the desert. Under Federal Decree Law No. 17 of 2019, fireworks count as explosives.

The law sets three main penalties:

• Selling, buying or bringing them in without a licence: at least one year in prison, a fine of at least AED 100,000, or both
• Lighting fireworks without a permit: a fine of at least AED 50,000
• Advertising or selling them online: a fine of AED 500,000 to AED 1 million, under the cybercrime law

That is why the only fireworks you will see on Diwali in Dubai are the licensed public shows on this page.

You can still make your home glow on Diwali night. In the UAE, the light comes from lamps, not from noise. This is what to do and what to avoid:

In the days before Diwali, these are easy to find at Meena Bazaar in Bur Dubai or in supermarkets across the UAE:

• Clay diyas: small oil lamps to light on a metal tray
• LED fairy lights: for balconies, windows and doors
• Rangoli colours: coloured powder for a pattern at your door

Our guide to a Diwali party at home in Dubai shows where to buy them, what they cost and how to light diyas safely in a flat. Planning to go out instead? See our guides to Diwali parties in Dubai and Diwali events for kids in Dubai.