Liwa Date Festival 2026: Dates, Venue, What to Expect and How to Get There

Figures are from the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority's announcement and closing report for the 2026 edition. The 2025 edition ran 18 to 27 July, and 2024 ran 15 to 24 July, so a mid-July start is the pattern to plan around for 2027.

This is the most common mix-up we deal with. Liwa hosts two large festivals a year and they share nothing but the location.

Summer

Liwa Date Festival

Mid-July, 10 days, Liwa City. Agricultural and heritage: rutab competitions, farmers' market, souk, folk arts, family zone. Free entry, evening hours. Organised by the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority.

Winter

Liwa International Festival

11 December 2026 to 2 January 2027 at Tal Moreeb dune. Motorsport, drift, Monster Jam, concerts, New Year fireworks and Liwa Village. Organised by DCT Abu Dhabi. We run a Liwa dune festival tour for it.

If you want dates, camels, farmers and Bedouin crafts, you want the July event on this page. If you want dune racing and a New Year concert, you want December.
 

The heart of the event is the competition pavilion. Farmers bring baskets of rutab in eleven named varieties, plus mangoes, lemons and figs in seven fruit categories, and judges score them on size, colour, taste and quality. Results are read out on the main stage each evening and the winning baskets go on display, which is where you will see the enormous date bunches that get photographed every year. Three model farm competitions and a palm trunk art competition run alongside.

• Rutab market: 97 outlets in 2026 selling fresh semi-ripe dates by the kilo, date palm offshoots, honey and farm produce. This is what most visitors come for.
• Heritage souk: 68 stalls run largely by Al Dhafra families selling palm-frond weaving, handwoven baskets, burqas, incense and oud, henna and Emirati sweets.
• Traditional crafts area: live demonstrations of sadu weaving, khoos palm weaving and rope making.
• Main stage: folk troupes performing ayyala and harbiya, poetry, and stage quizzes with prizes for visitors.
• Family zone: a children's village with workshops, rides and a play area, all under shade.
• Lectures and workshops: short sessions on date palm care, pest control and home growing, tied to the new Kharayef Al Bayt home harvest competition launched in 2026.

The festival tent is air conditioned. The souk and market areas are shaded but open, which is why nothing starts before late afternoon.

Liwa City sits on the northern edge of the Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter, about 220 km south-west of Abu Dhabi. The festival grounds are on the main road through the oasis and are signposted from the E45 Hameem road. Parking is free and plentiful; the site is built for cars.

1. Private 4x4 transfer or day tour from Abu Dhabi. 2 to 2.5 hours each way. This is how most of our guests go, because the vehicle then takes them into the dunes, to Qasr Al Sarab or to a camel farm before the festival opens. See the Liwa desert safari options.
2. Private transfer or day tour from Dubai. 3 to 3.5 hours each way via Abu Dhabi. It is a long day, so we recommend an overnight in Liwa or at Qasr Al Sarab rather than driving back the same night.
3. Public bus from Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Mobility runs a service between Abu Dhabi Central bus station (near Al Wahda Mall) and Mezairaa bus station in Liwa, taking about 3.5 hours for around AED 30 one way. There are only two or three departures a day and the last return leaves late afternoon, before the festival gets going, so the bus only works if you are staying overnight in Liwa. Confirm times on 800 88888 before travelling.
4. From Dubai by bus. There is no direct service. Take the E100 (Al Ghubaiba) or E101 (Ibn Battuta) intercity bus to Abu Dhabi, then the Liwa bus. Allow six hours and expect to stay the night.
5. Self-drive. Take the E11 to Abu Dhabi, then the E45 towards Hameem and Liwa. The road is dual carriageway most of the way and fuel stations are spaced out, so fill up at Hameem. Do not leave the tarmac in a saloon car.

Etihad Rail has been running trial passenger journeys ahead of the launch of a Liwa station. When passenger services open, a train from Abu Dhabi will change how easy this trip is; we will update this page when a public timetable is published.

Rutab is sold by the kilo and prices move with the variety and the day's competition results. Expect to pay roughly AED 20 to 60 per kilo for good Khalas or Dabbas from a farmer's stall, and considerably more for competition-grade baskets, which are auctioned rather than sold. A few pointers from our guides:

• Khalas is the sweetest and softest, the one to try first
• Dabbas is the Liwa classic, firmer and less sweet, and the variety the oasis is known for
• Barhi rutab is crunchy and tastes like honey when it is still half yellow
• Fard and Khenaizi are the darker, richer varieties that keep well
• Ask the stall to pack rutab in a foam box if you are driving back to Dubai; it bruises in plastic bags in the heat
• Fresh rutab keeps about a week in the fridge and up to a year frozen, so buying several kilos is normal
• The souk stalls take cash and most take cards; the farmers' stalls are mainly cash, so carry small notes

The festival does not open until late afternoon, which leaves the whole day for the desert. These are the stops we build into our Liwa itineraries.

Dunes

Tal Moreeb

The UAE's tallest dune at around 300 m, 25 minutes from Liwa City. In July go early morning or at sunset; the sand is untouchable at midday.

Heritage

Dhafeer Fort and the Liwa forts

Restored mud-brick forts along the oasis crescent. Climb to the roof of Dhafeer for the view over the palms and the first dunes of the Empty Quarter.

Farms

Camel farms and the Liwa black camel

Bedouin-run farms on the Moreeb road keep the dark Liwa breed. Our drivers know which owners welcome visitors for fresh camel milk and photos.

Resort

Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort

The Anantara resort 40 minutes from Liwa City. Lunch, a sunset cocktail on the dune terrace or a BBQ dinner is the way most of our guests break up a festival day.
 

All of our Liwa tours are private, run in 4x4s with hotel pickup, and can be timed so you arrive at the festival grounds after 4 pm. Prices below are per person starting prices from the Liwa tours list; a festival stop adds no cost.
 

Festival day with lunch at Qasr Al Sarab

Private 4x4 from Abu Dhabi, resort lunch through the heat, festival grounds from 4 pm.

1. Leave Abu Dhabi at 9 am. Coffee stop at Hameem, then the camel farm and Dhafeer Fort while it is still bearable, around 11.30 am.
2. Qasr Al Sarab from 1 pm. Lunch, the pool if you are staying, and the shaded terraces through the worst of the heat.
3. Festival grounds at 4.30 pm. Rutab market first while the stock is full, then the souk, then the competition pavilion and the stage as the results are announced from about 7 pm.
4. Sunset at Tal Moreeb around 7 pm. Ten minutes from the grounds. Then dinner at the festival food stalls or back at the resort.
5. Overnight or drive back. Guests from Abu Dhabi can be home by midnight. Guests from Dubai should stay the night; a 3.5 hour drive after a July desert day is not a good idea.

• Heat: expect 42 to 46 degrees in the afternoon and still above 35 at 9 pm. Drink more water than feels necessary and do the dunes at dawn or dusk only.
• Dress: light, loose and covering the shoulders and knees. This is a heritage event in a conservative region; women do not need to cover their hair but a scarf helps with the sun.
• Children: the family zone and the air conditioned tent make it an easy evening for families. Prams are fine on the site.
• Timing: weekday evenings are quieter. The final two days draw the biggest crowds for the main results and the closing ceremony.
• Photography: the competition displays and folk performances are open to photography; ask before photographing farmers or women at the souk stalls.
• Fuel and phone: fill up at Hameem, and expect patchy mobile data once you leave the main road towards Tal Moreeb.

Want to be told when the 2027 dates are announced?

Message us and we will hold a Liwa tour for your preferred festival day and confirm once the Heritage Authority publishes the programme.