Buying for winter 2026/27: Chinese New Year, Ramadan, DSF

As of 19 October 2026. China has not yet published its official holiday schedule, and Ramadan and Eid dates in the UAE depend on moon sighting.

• 4 December 2026 – 17 January 2027: Dubai Shopping Festival, 32nd edition.
• 6 February 2027: Chinese New Year. China's State Council usually announces the days off in November; in 2026 they ran 9 days, 15⁠–⁠23 February.
• Around 8 February 2027: Ramadan begins, per the astronomical forecast.
• 20 February 2027: the Lantern Festival, end of the New Year period in China.
• 8 March: International Women's Day, a day off in Kazakhstan.
• 9 or 10 March 2027: Eid al-Fitr, several days off in a row in the UAE.
• 21⁠–⁠23 March: Nauryz, a public holiday in Kazakhstan.

Officially China is off for about a week and a half; production stops for longer. Two or three weeks before the holiday workers head home and factories stop taking new orders. The full stop runs roughly from late January to mid-February.

After the holiday lines restart short-staffed; logistics firms put the return to full capacity at mid-March. Some workers never come back to the same factory. We inspect the first post-holiday batches before dispatch.

In January, truck and rail space out of China is booked 3⁠–⁠4 weeks ahead.

During Ramadan the UAE private-sector working day is shortened; in 2026 the labour ministry cut it by 2 hours. Warehouses and offices stay open, but replies, order picking and paperwork move slower.

Eid is announced on the evening of the 29th day of the month, after the moon sighting, so the days off can shift by one day. Around 9⁠–⁠11 March shipments out of Dubai stop.

In 2027 Ramadan starts two days after Chinese New Year. Much of the stock at Dubai wholesalers is made in China, so in February Dubai warehouses restock more slowly than usual.

DSF is a retail event: mall sales, concerts and raffles. The organiser, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, announced the 32nd edition's dates. Shop discounts do not carry over to distributors' wholesale prices.

Guide figures, not a promised date. In peak weeks border queues come on top.

• Dubai: 3⁠–⁠5 days.
• Hong Kong: air 5⁠–⁠7 days, road 12⁠–⁠18 days.
• China: air 3⁠–⁠7 days, truck 10⁠–⁠18 days, rail 18⁠–⁠30 days.

Logistics firms give these timings: production orders close 8⁠–⁠10 weeks before the holiday, so by late November or early December, and the last reliable dispatch in the first half of January. Goods that miss the shutdown sit in the factory warehouse until late February.

On winter orders we get the supplier to confirm in writing:

• the production finish date and the hand-over date to the carrier;
• the quality check date before dispatch;
• a contact who answers during the holidays.