RAK NYE 2027: Free Fireworks, Drone Show and an 11-Hour Festival at Al Marjan Island

Ras Al Khaimah will welcome 2027 with a free 11-hour New Year’s Eve festival at Jais Festival Ground on Al Marjan Island. We track the details as the official RAK NYE website publishes them, and the night builds to the RAK NYE Sky Show at midnight.

The festival runs from 4pm on 31 December until 3am on 1 January. Entry is free, but every guest must register online first, and registration opens on 15 November.

The RAK NYE Sky Show

The main event runs from 11:50pm to 12:05am. Fireworks and synchronised drones will fill the sky across 5km of coastline, choreographed to music, while the DJs pause for the show.

The official site describes an open horizon with no towers to frame it, only sky above the coast and the mountains beyond. Anyone who cannot be there can watch the Sky Show live on the same site from 11:50pm.

Eleven hours at Jais Festival Ground

Gates open at 4pm, with food, drinks and games running until 2am. DJs start at 5pm and play until 3am, pausing only for the parades and the Sky Show.

Three parades run through the evening at 7:30pm, 8:30pm and 9:30pm, with roaming entertainers across the festival ground. A DJ countdown party from 11pm leads into the final countdown, and the afterparty keeps the music going until 3am.

Free entry, but registration is compulsory

Entry is free, yet registration is required for guests of all ages, including children. Registration opens on 15 November, and each guest receives a QR code by email to show at the entrance.

One registration covers a main guest plus up to four other people, children included, and one car. Larger groups simply register again.

Three registration categories cover festival guests, Al Marjan Island residents and their guests, and hotel or restaurant guests. Residents register their households and guests and receive two digital car passes per apartment, while hotel guests register with their booking confirmation.

Getting there and parking

Exit 122 is the only public car park for the night, and parking there is free. It opens at 10am and spaces are first come, first served.

Free shuttle buses run both ways between Exit 122 and the festival from 4pm, with the last shuttle leaving at 3am. Roads close from 7pm, so the advice is to arrive before then, and there is no driving to the festival and no roadside parking.

Taxis, ride-hailing cars and private drivers can drop guests at Exit 122, and everyone in the car still needs to be registered. Drivers coming from Dubai, Sharjah and the northern emirates take Exit 119 from E311, then Al Shuhada Road and the first right onto Al Samil Road towards the parking.

An earlier show at Manar Mall

Families with small children get an earlier option in the city centre. A separate fireworks display runs at 9pm at the Ras Al Khaimah Corniche, opposite Julphar Towers, and it is best seen from Manar Mall and the Corniche.

Entry to that viewing is free on a first-come, first-served basis, and visitors can park at Manar Mall. No registration is needed for the Corniche display.

A night RAK has made its own

Ras Al Khaimah has turned New Year’s Eve into its signature event, and the shows have set multiple Guinness World Records. The display that welcomed 2025 set two records, for the largest aerial display of a tree formed by drones and the largest aerial image of a seashell formed by drones, and the show that welcomed 2026 set another record with its drone display.

The 2025 show stretched across 5km of waterfront in three acts, and more than 100,000 residents and visitors gathered to watch it. This year’s Sky Show uses the same 5km stretch of coast.

What the free festival means for the night

Making the biggest night of the year free, then gating it with registration, is RAK’s answer to a crowd problem it knows well. More than 100,000 residents and visitors gathered for the show that welcomed 2025, and a free festival with a single car park and shuttles keeps the island moving while the night stays open to everyone.

The 9pm Corniche display does the same job for families, giving small children a midnight moment three hours early. For everyone else, the plan is simple. Register on 15 November, arrive before the roads close at 7pm, and look up at 11:50pm.

What to bring

Food trucks, drinks and seating are all provided at the festival, so the official advice is to travel light. Bags are checked at entry, and outside food and drinks, alcohol, personal fireworks, drones and glass bottles are all on the leave-at-home list.

The list also covers BBQs, tents, pets, picnic blankets and large bags. A small foldable chair, warm layers for the evening and a fully charged phone are all worth bringing, and the programme and timings are subject to change.