Thanksgiving week, planned day by day.

What the calendars say

Thanksgiving Day in the United States is Thursday 26 November 2026. That is the date on the federal holiday list of the US Office of Personnel Management, which also gives Christmas Day as Friday 25 December and New Year’s Day as Friday 1 January 2027.

On the Dubai side, the UAE government’s public holiday list gives National Day as Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 December 2026, the week after Thanksgiving. Thursday 26 November itself is not a holiday in the UAE, and Friday 27 November is an ordinary Dubai Friday. If your group wants a long weekend that runs into National Day, read our National Day plan for overseas visitors, which separates the confirmed dates from the programme that is still unannounced.

Check the organiser’s notices and the government’s announcements before you book transport. Several events in the region have been postponed or cancelled in 2026, so book what you can change, and we adjust a quote if your dates change.

The week in a table

This is a planning grid built from the sources above. The sunrise and sunset times are our own calculation, approximate to the nearest minute, and the temperatures are older long-term averages, not a forecast.

On the weather, the World Meteorological Organization’s Dubai entry, supplied by the UAE’s national weather centre, gives an average November daytime high of about 30.5 degrees C and a night low of about 18.3 degrees C. The entry is an old reference set, so treat it as a guide to the season and read the forecast nearer your date.

The time gap, and a Thanksgiving example

The UAE has no daylight saving. The US clocks change on 1 November 2026, and from then until 14 March 2027 we calculate that the UAE is 9 hours ahead of New York, 10 ahead of Chicago, 11 ahead of Denver and 12 ahead of Los Angeles. Our time difference guide has the full table, including Europe, Australia and Japan.

Two examples, using New York: A pick-up at 09:00 Dubai time on Thursday is midnight at the start of Thursday in New York, so family at home are still asleep when your group sets off. A Thanksgiving dinner at 18:00 in New York is 03:00 on Friday morning in Dubai. If you plan a video call home with the group, set it for the Dubai morning, and always write pick-up times in Dubai time on a 24-hour clock.

The events around the dates

The Dubai International Boat Show runs from Wednesday 25 to Sunday 29 November 2026 at Dubai Harbour. The organiser’s home page gives the dates and the 32nd edition. We did not find daily hours on that page when we checked on 31 October 2026. Our Boat Show transport guide carries the hours and shuttle points from the organiser’s other pages, and you should check them against the organiser’s current notices.

Global Village began its 31st season on 14 October 2026 and runs to May 2027. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on 12 October that it runs four bus routes to the site: 102 from Al Rashidiya, 103 from Union, 104 from Al Ghubaiba and 106 from Mall of the Emirates, with electric abras inside the site. Our Global Village guide sets out hours, parking and drive times for a group.

Hotel dinners, tickets and entry fees are for the hotel, the organiser or the venue to say. We sell no tickets.

What we could not find

We found no published coach drop-off point at Dubai Harbour or Global Village, no RTA service hours for National Day 2026, and no organiser statement on daily boat show hours on the page we opened. We did not research hotel meals or offers.

We are not the organiser’s transport provider and not a partner of any event listed here. If the organiser’s notices and ours ever differ, follow the organiser.

Planning the week

Here is an example, not a timetable, for a group of 24 staying in one hotel. On the arrival day, the group travels from the airport to the hotel and rests. On Thanksgiving Thursday, a city half day with a late start finishes before sunset at about 17:29, and the group eats together at the hotel. On Friday, a morning outing is back at the hotel before the midday prayer period. On Saturday evening, the group goes to Global Village on a fixed pick-up and return time. On Sunday afternoon, the group visits the boat show if it wants to. Your flights, your hotel and your group’s age will change the sum.

If the group is flying in just for the week, our big group arrival at DXB guide and the passport control guide cover the airport end. For the wider season, peak season in Dubai explains why late November vehicles and rooms go early, and weekends and Friday prayers explains the Friday pattern.

For children or grandparents, see a family holiday in Dubai.

Choosing the vehicle

Count passengers first and bags second, because a trip from the US often means large suitcases. Our guide figures:

• Mercedes V-Class: up to 7 passengers and 6 bags.
• 13-seater HiAce: up to 13 passengers and about 10 suitcases.
• Mercedes Sprinter: up to 16 passengers and up to 12 suitcases.
• 30-seater mini coach and 50-seater coach for church groups, clubs and tour parties.

How a booked vehicle fits

1. Send the plan. Dates, hotel area, party size, bags and the evenings you want a fixed return.
2. Ask for a fixed written quote. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
3. Read the pick-up and drop-off arrangement. The quote states it, and we update it when the organisers publish theirs.
4. Agree the return times. We plan the margin and tell you what is not yet published.
5. Tell us if plans change. We adjust where we can, and cannot promise to beat traffic.

Related: Dubai Boat Show 2026 transport · Global Village on National Day · UAE National Day 2026 plan for visitors · UAE time difference for booking from abroad · Peak season booking guide · Big group arrival at DXB · Get a quote

Keep reading

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• Dubai layover for senior travellers: A long layover in Dubai for older travellers: how to count the hours, why one area beats three, where the sitting-down time goes and which vehicle fits.
• UAE National Day 2026 plan for visitors: The National Day dates, what is still unannounced, what ran in 2025 and how a visiting group can plan a Dubai break around 2 and 3 December.
• Japan holiday windows for Dubai trips: Japanese national holidays from November 2026 to Golden Week 2027, laid against the expected dates of Ramadan and Eid in the UAE and against Dubai’s monthly heat.
• Art Dubai 2027 group transport: Art Dubai 2027, 7 to 11 April at Madinat Jumeirah: the preview and public days, the venue, modelled drive times from the main hotel areas and what the fair has not yet published.