UAE: Families say this is the best Eid Al Adha they had in two years

Residents seen out and about on streets, as malls and restaurants bustle with visitors

It’s reunion time for most families in the UAE this Eid Al Adha, especially with the threat posed by the pandemic receding.

Citizens and residents are calling it a ‘close-to-normal Eid’ after a couple of years of subdued festivities due to Covid-19, even though it’s premature to declare it as ‘game over’ for the pandemic.

As the vibrant festivities began on Saturday, people were seen out and about on the streets, as malls and restaurants bustled with visitors and diners, while hotels recorded near-100 per cent occupancy this season.

Explaining the local traditions, UAE National Malak Tariq Alfarsi, said: “We just got back from Turkey yesterday after my daughter participated in a competition there. We usually don’t travel during Eid as we traditionally love spending it with our extended family here in the country. But we are upbeat about the celebrations despite the exhaustion. First, I will go and visit my in-laws and then it’ll be followed by a visit to our parental home and a big feast of lamb dishes and sweets. Like every year, we fasted on Arafat day which is a very important day in the year, and then did a ‘Qurbani’ or an sacrificial offering. That meat is distributed to underprivileged people in places like Africa or India.

“It’s customary for us and it’s a tradition that we’ve maintained for years. Once these offerings are done through known agents as part of charity, which also includes grocery items like oil, rice, lentils and other essentials, and the timings are known to us, only then do the heads of the family - the fathers or husbands - go for a haircut or a shave. The ‘intent’ is very important. Apart from this, children wear new clothes and wait for ‘Eidi’, or gifts that are given to them by the family and older relatives as part of the celebration every year. ”