Christmas at Expo City Dubai: Winter City on Al Wasl Plaza

Winter City, the Christmas event at Expo City Dubai, returns to Al Wasl Plaza from 11 to 31 December 2026, every evening from 4pm to 10pm. An illuminated tree, Santa’s grotto, a snow zone, festive markets and an open-air cinema: this is a ticketed family attraction, 60 AED entry, where the stalls are only one part. The Dubai Christmas market in the strict sense is held at Madinat Jumeirah, with free entry.

Winter City 2026: dates and opening hours

Winter City opens on Friday 11 December 2026 and closes on Thursday 31 December, with one session a day, from 4pm to 10pm, Dubai time. In 2025, the event was called Winter Wonderland and opened from 6 December, from 2pm to 10pm.

Tickets: 60 AED entry, 175 AED skip-the-line pass

General entry costs 60 AED. The skip-the-line pass, the Winter City Express Entry Pass, is 175 AED, and it alone gives access to the guaranteed meeting with Santa, charged 75 AED extra. Children aged 3 and under get in free, as do a person with a disability and their companion. Booking in advance is recommended, on the Platinumlist ticketing site. In 2025, the online ticket cost 40 AED.

Santa’s grotto, snow, markets and open-air cinema

The programme is aimed at families: you write your letter to Santa and meet him in his grotto, you watch the tree lighting, you pass through Mrs Claus’ Bakery before the snow zone. The festive markets and their stalls of seasonal treats fill part of the plaza, and an open-air cinema takes over in the evening. The number of stalls is not known.

How to get to Winter City, Expo City Dubai

Al Wasl Plaza is at Expo City Dubai. Jubilee car park, zone E, is free. From abroad, flights to Dubai are worth comparing between airlines.

The other venues of the wider region are on our page of Christmas markets in Asia. For a market with free entry, the Dubai Christmas market, the Festive Market at Madinat Jumeirah, runs from 4 to 27 December 2026.