There are three main reasons to visit the UAE in December, especially if your itinerary includes Dubai. The first one should be obvious to all. Due to its climate, visiting this part of the world in any other time would be purposefully subjecting oneself to more sunshine and higher temperatures than necessary. In fact, even in December I managed to get a sunburn by just walking around Dubai, which is why at times I had to wait around in malls or museums for the sun to go down a bit before resuming my explorations. So, even when the city is supposed to be at its coldest, for many, it will still be quite hot. Nevertheless, any other month would simply be worse off, making December the most reasonable month to visit the Emirates, if you care about your health that is.
However, the superior weather is not the only factor to consider if you specifically planning to visit Dubai in December. There are two seasonal occurrences to keep in mind that truly enriches your stay if you time it right. The first one is the Global Village, which is a theme park that is only open from October to April, and the other one is the Dubai Shopping Festival, which takes place from December to January. Both of these bring some interesting things to the table, making it worthier to visit this already beautiful city in December. Let us now dive deeper to see just why I think so.
The Global Village
As I mentioned before, Global Village is a theme park, but it is no ordinary theme park. There are far too many theme parks in Dubai, and in the UAE in general, but I only visited one. This has to do with the fact that Global Village, as its name suggests, presents you a sneak peek into different parts of the world in a sizable area for a not so steep 30 AED fee. You will find pavilions dedicated to certain countries and geographies all across this theme park, such as the one you see above, belonging to Egypt.
I managed to make acquittance with a few people who worked in this theme park, and both from their words and from my own experience, I can say that these pavilions may be a hit and miss as far as authenticity is concerned. While some of them, like the Egyptian, Omani, Iranian, and to a certain degree Turkish ones are filled to the brim with their own nationals who sell products from their own homelands, some others offer less authentic, though not necessarily less entertaining experiences. For example, the Russian pavilion had Latin dancers on its stage, American candies on its stores, and Chinese made souvenirs in its “Red Square” Souvenir Shop. There was not much Russian about it, other than one tiny pelmeni shop. To be clear, this is a theme park, not a museum, and as such, this is an observation, not criticism. If you come here to be entertained as you should (and not to be educated), you will realize that all pavilions have an interesting design, some decent shops, some tasty eateries, and a stage where you can watch an entertaining show or two.
Speaking of food, as some of you may have already guessed, that was the biggest attraction for me in the Global Village. You see, while all these pavilions already have a few eateries located inside them, there are also entire streets dedicated to small kiosks that serve dishes from all over the world. This was an incredible opportunity to buy a few dishes that I wanted to try for a while as well as to eat some other dishes that I have been craving for a while. I started my night with an Iranian ash reshteh, a rich and thick soup that consists of many greens, pulses, and some fried onions on top. It was as good as I thought it would be and made me realize once again that I should not keep postponing that trip of mine to Iran any longer.
I was lucky enough to enjoy my ash as some artists took to the stage to perform some Persian songs. Again, such stages can be found on all pavilions to my knowledge. They often have a single show which they repeat a few times throughout the night. You can find out about when the next show is on a billboard somewhere close to the stage. These shows do make the whole experience far more enjoyable, so try to experience at least a few of them. It goes without saying that, technically speaking, this is what you pay for with your 30 AED. All the food and drinks inside are an extra, if you do not count the samples that you may enjoy as you walk past numerous vendors.
There is also a big stage in the middle of the theme park which always has something bigger going on. It is either a concert, or a dance performance, or something along those lines. Sometimes, the people that will play on it start playing somewhere else to attract many visitors to go towards the main stage. This was one of those cases. This group, I believe from Colombia, started playing just at the beginning of the theme park, and led people to the main stage in around thirty minutes. It was an enjoyable experience, one that I watched intermittently as I zigzagged my way around many different pavilions that the Global Village had to offer.
You may have realized that the Iranian ash, however tasty it may be, was rather small to sate my appetite. In fact, for 20 AED, arguably its portion size left a lot to be desired. Well, get used to that. I do think that like most other theme parks around the world, the entry fee is the least of your concerns here in the Global Village, as the food in this theme park is not cheap by any means. Case in point, the lobster roll that you see above came to a whopping 40 AED. For a tiny sandwich that was gone in exactly six bites (yes, I actually counted it) this was not cheap at all. You may think that it is because it has some lobster meat in it, but most main dishes in the park were priced at around 40 AED, and sometimes even more. I must add that everything I ate here tasted great, and at times, like with this lobster roll, phenomenal, so perhaps all those high prices do translate to better ingredients. Nevertheless, just be ready to spend at least around 100 AED when you visit the Global Village, or come prepared with a full stomach and stick to spending 30 AED only on the entry fee. For me, food played a big role in my enjoyment of the night, so this was a sacrifice I was happy to make, and with all due respect to your budget, I would encourage you to give some unique food items you can find here a go as well.
Unsurprisingly, if you are feeling social, you can also catch up with people from all around the world in the Global Village. I do think that you can do this pretty much all around the UAE, without paying anything extra for it, as migrants from all corners of the globe are seemingly spread all around the city, but the setting here is a bit cozier for such small talk to say the least.
All in all, I spent around five hours chatting with vendors, eating delicious food (like the cheese and muhammara mankosha), watching some concert and performances, and so on, and ended up spending a total of 110 AED in one night. This was more than what I spent in most full days in this trip of mine, but it was certainly one of the more memorable parts of my entire trip as well. Oh also, do not be afraid of going there and coming back by public transportation as well. There are multiple buses to and from Global Village, and while they cost 12 AED instead of the usual 2-3 AED, they get the job done quite efficiently.
Dubai Shopping Festival’s Night Markets
What if you do not want to, or simply cannot, pay to enjoy a multicultural theme park that also offers a lot of interesting food for you to enjoy? Should you still come to Dubai in December? Well, definitely. You see, during December, and a good chunk of January, there is an annual event called Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) that impacts many parts of the city, often for the better. Now, I am no expert on what this festival truly entails. I saw many DSF posters all around, there were vouchers of some kind in some pop-up kiosks, there were some discounts and a few other shopping related goodies to check out, and so on. What DSF means for me personally, however, are none other than tasty night markets.
Yes, night markets. These lovely temporary night markets that seemingly teleport you to South East Asia with their mostly Filipino clientele are where I had some of my fondest memories of Dubai. They vary in size and shape, but the gist of them remains the same. There is a small stage where some simple shows can be put on, surrounded by a few kiosks selling anything from cheap Chinese trinkets to not so cheap deep fried lobsters. People come here late at night to relax and socialize after an honest day’s work. Most of the patrons here seem to be working class folks that love connecting with their roots, enjoying dishes that once nourished them back in their hometowns.
We do not really have these night markets back in Turkey, nor did the other country where I lived in had such a culture. However, I was familiar with the concept for years, and always wanted to experience it myself. While it may not be the real thing, the night markets of Dubai certainly satisfied me thoroughly. You can try many different dishes here, which are always sold by cheerful vendors, and best of all, you can combine what different kiosks offer to make your very own dinner. For example, I went for a classic Japanese yakisoba with shrimp and a bubble tea on my very last night in the UAE, when I admittedly played it a bit too safe before my flight.
However, I did not care much about playing it safe for the most part before that. I tried all that I could, in the limited time that I had in these night markets. That is how I got to know some true gastronomical gems, such as the cassava cakes that you can see photographed above, found on the right side of the container. I still have no idea what the dessert on the left was called, or made out of, but that was not that bad as well. Still, that cassava cake, it was simply out of this world.
My very last night in the UAE coincided with Christmas Eve, when I got to enjoy the celebration of the day by the city’s Filipino community. They were extremely welcoming, and in fact, teased the “foreigners” just to make them a part of their crowd as best as they could. While you can find these night markets in many neighbourhoods across Dubai, I enjoyed the ones near Union Bus Station in Deira and I do think that these are some of the most bustling ones. While you may not readily find these night markets on many official or unofficial itineraries made for Dubai, I do think that anyone that visits this city in December would make a terrible mistake if they did not enjoy at least a single night out in one of these excellent venues.
All in all, while I am sure that the UAE has much to offer all around the year, it is truly best to visit it in December to make the most out of your stay with increased entertainment options, and a much more agreeable climate. In fact, I could also enjoy a swim in the sea as many at the time did, alas, I did not. This is to say, while December adds a lot to your table to explore, it does not really exclude any summertime activities like swimming, making visiting the city at that time of the year a no-brainer if you are flexible.