Dubai Festival City Mall is the waterfront mall on Dubai Creek that winter visitors find by accident and then recommend to everyone. It has more than 400 shops, the free IMAGINE water, laser and fire show every evening, over 50 restaurants and cafés on Festival Bay, and none of the crowds of Downtown – while being only about ten minutes from the airport. A December evening at 22°C on the promenade, with the Creek in front of you and the Burj Khalifa on the skyline, is the whole point. New this winter: the DXB Winter Festival right next door.

Shopping at Dubai Festival City Mall

The line-up is practical rather than glamorous, which is exactly why residents love it: IKEA, Marks & Spencer, Zara, H&M, Nike and Adidas, plus Carrefour and LuLu hypermarkets – useful if you are staying in an apartment. It is the place to pick up a jumper for a desert evening or stock up for a self-catering stay. The mall also claims the largest food court in Dubai and has the Middle East’s only Hard Rock Cafe.

IMAGINE: the free water, laser and fire show

IMAGINE is Festival City’s answer to the Dubai Fountain, and in some ways the better show: water screens, lasers, fire and projections set to music on Festival Bay. It is free; watch from the promenade steps or, better still, from a waterfront restaurant terrace. According to the mall, shows run Monday to Wednesday from 19:00 to 22:00 and Thursday to Sunday from 19:00 to 23:00 – check the mall’s website for the exact times on the day. In winter the timing is perfect: the sun sets over the Creek around 17:40, so you can stroll the promenade at golden hour and have dinner before the first show.

Festival Bay, family fun and the Creek

Festival Bay has more than 50 restaurants and cafés with Creek views. For families there is Fabyland (a 70,000 sq ft entertainment centre), the BOUNCE-X trampoline park, Leo & Loona and VOX Cinemas. From the waterfront you can also take a dhow ride on the Creek; for the classic winter-evening combination, book a Creek cruise to the old souks of Bur Dubai below.

DXB Winter Festival next to the mall (1 December – 10 January)

This winter the old Christmas market on Festival Bay makes way for something much bigger. The DXB Winter Festival (1 December 2026 – 10 January 2027) fills 20,000 m² of waterfront beside the mall with a European-style Christmas market of more than 150 vendors, an iconic Christmas tree, Santa’s Grotto, a funfair, a main stage, daily parades and fireworks. It is open from 16:00 to midnight, and from 14:00 at weekends, with entrances from both the mall and the bay. Unlike the old market, entry is by ticket; prices have not been announced yet. Dates, programme and ticket info on our DXB Winter Festival page, or compare it with the other Christmas markets in Dubai.

Opening hours and how to get there

The mall is open Monday to Thursday from 10:00 to 22:00 and Friday to Sunday from 10:00 to midnight; restaurants on the waterfront stay open until 23:00 on weekdays, and the Carrefour and LuLu hypermarkets open at 08:00. Hours can change in the festive season, so check the mall’s website. There is no metro station at the mall: the nearest is Creek station on the Green Line, from where you continue by taxi. From Dubai International Airport it is about ten minutes by taxi, which is why many visitors make it their first or last stop of the trip. Valet parking is available.

Stay on the waterfront

Three hotels are attached to the mall: the InterContinental Dubai Festival City (whose façade is the IMAGINE screen – ask for a Creek-view room), the Crowne Plaza Festival City and the good-value Holiday Inn Festival City. All three are a walk from the market and a short taxi from the airport. Compare Festival City hotels on Booking.com.

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