The EW Guide to Christmas in Dubai

We are very lucky living in the Middle East that Dubai is multi faith tolerant and festivals like Diwali, Christmas, Easter can all be celebrated along with Eid and the many other holidays there are here. Shops and stores cater to these festivals so everyone can celebrate and join in. Christmas is well celebrated here through shopping options, events and restaurant offerings.
Here is our guide of how to celebrate the festive period in Dubai...

Food
You can get everything you need here to cook that impressive Nigella or Jamie festive dinner. Most turkeys will be frozen and you will see Butterball turkeys in most major supermarkets in the frozen aisle. Fresh turkeys may be available- have a word with the butcher at your usual supermarket. You could always try chicken or duck if you don’t want turkey. Vegetables are not a problem as the whole range of traditional veggies are available here- either fresh or frozen. Most supermarkets will have a special dedicated section for festive products including mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake. So there is no excuse to get out of cooking the dinner!

Eating Out
Most hotels and restaurants offer a Christmas dinner in house but they do get booked up early so make up your mind quickly if you are going to dine out. Some 5 star hotels also deliver- so if you want to eat at home without the fun/ stress of cooking- do the Dubai special and order in! Keep an eye for the 5 star hotels festive season brochures as some also have tree lighting ceremonies and carol concerts too as well as a visiting Santa.

Gifts
If you need to buy gifts for people abroad - get online! http://www.expatwoman.com/dubai/monthly_Gifts.aspx in our gifts section we have lots of options for online shopping- save yourself the postage.  If you are going home for the festive season- Dubai is a shopping haven for gifts. The best bit is if you buy from stores in Dubai that are not in your home country no one will have the same thing and no one knows how much you spent! Christmas is an expensive time and if you are budget conscious one top tip is Lifestyle in Centre Point stores- they have amazing products from all around the world at great prices.
 

Decorations
Not so many years ago it was nearly impossible to find a tree or decorations- now they are everywhere. Try Party Zone or any of the other  Home & Hardware stores and most supermarkets also stock decorations. The Plant Souk, the Garden Centre and Spinneys usually have real trees from 400- 800 AED or you can buy artificial ones from Carrefour and LuLu Centre from 150 AED.

Events

A lot of shopping malls will have Winter Wonderland themed displays for the festive period. Check out local listings for carol concerts, Santa visits and tree lightings. You will find a lot of information about what is happening where on our busy information board as the ladies swap top tips on there too http://www.expatwoman.com/forum/default.aspx?sid=1  The churches in Dubai also do dedicated Christmas services - visit their website to see what is happening this year.
 

We also know that this can be a sad time of year too when you can be missing family and friends and feel a bit lonely if you are staying here for Christmas. Our best advice is to throw yourself into the season here - you may be used to it being cold and snowy and not feel the spirit of the season. Do your best to recreate as much as you can of your own tradition during this time. Set a time to web cam your friends and family that are abroad during Christmas day so you can say hello and send wishes. You may not be having a traditional “Christmas” that you are used to at home but you can make a new one! Make sure your friends here are doing something for Christmas day- if not invite them to yours- for dinner- or have a turkey butty party just before.