Why some UAE residents are opting for desert retreat to celebrate the New Year
If the UAE is famous for bustling New Year’s Eve celebrations and fireworks in the heart of the city, many Emiratis and expats now like to ring in the new year somewhere a little more private — in the desert.
But instead of fighting traffic jams and overcrowded city streets, some people take leave from their home or office as early as 1pm to visit their favourite dessert place, where they can take a break from the hustle and bustle and spend time with friends and family.
Once they’re there, they eat lunch and have barbecues, in a warm family home isolated from the city. Here is where they spend new year with family and friends — no fireworks but lots of love and warmth everywhere.
Obaid Suhail, 28, a resident of Dubai, shared with me his family’s custom of traveling to Al Awair desert camp every New Year’s Eve. "We go early for Al Awair where we put up our tarpaulins for the winter. We make lunch there and are up until 3am to beat the traffic," Mohammed told me, recalling the old revelries.
‘All the camps are full of Emirati families by evening. Everybody is counting as the countdown begins, and there are happy songs. We wake up at midnight to the fireworks roaring from the city," Mohammed smiled.
Unique family ritual
For others, such as 33-year-old Emirati Sabta Hassan, New Year’s Eve comes with its own familial rite. Sabta’s family sits at her aunt’s house on Al Ain-Dubai Road, off the rat-race. ‘Every New Year’s Eve we all come down because it’s away from town. We leave early as there are some closed roads and we do not want to be in traffic," Sabta said.
"My grandma is old and has this beautiful tradition. ‘She light one candle when it is countdown time and, when it’s New Year, she tosses it away and lights another.
She explained. "The first candle was from the previous year and tossing it is saying goodbye, whereas the new candle is a New Year beginning.
‘We had to do an end of 2023 right’
To aliens, New Year’s Eve in the desert is a good one too. Mohamed Elhassan, 27, a Sudanese who lives in Sharjah, spent last New Year’s Eve with friends at a camp in the Al Khawaneej Desert. "We wanted to say goodbye to 2023 like we meant it," he said of the night.
Elhassan paid for the camp, in part, with 15 of his friends, and it cost them about Dh3,700. The spacious camp even had a shower, TV and PlayStation. "We got there at 9.30pm," he went on. "It began with a little activity, that we went around the fire and jotted down things we did not want to bring into the new year. After debating, we put the papers on the fire. Card and board games we also played, but my favourite thing was roasting marshmallows".
"We woke up at 5am and went to Kite Beach on Jumeirah for breakfast. The streets were pretty empty then," Elhassan said.
Enjoying fireworks from a distance
Although everyone prefers the peace of the desert, there are people who still take pleasure in the firework displays from afar. Mohammed Saif of Ras Al Khaimah, his father and uncle, walked to a place where the fireworks on the Burj Khalifa could be observed from miles away.
"We took a parking lot by one of the parks and though we weren’t very far from the main show, we had a beautiful view of the Burj Khalifa," Mohammed said. "We took dinner and it was a nice vibe. But the most important thing was to have fun and just chill with our family on a day off,’ he added.
They’re considering doing it again next year, or going to the desert together to have the same occasion.
Comments