Abu Dhabi Art returns to Manarat Al Saadiyat from Wednesday 19 November to Sunday 23 November 2025, confirming its place as the capital’s flagship international art fair and anchor event for the Saadiyat Cultural District. Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, the fair is now in its 17th edition and continues to expand its role as both a commercial art platform and a cultural meeting point. Recent announcements confirm that the 2025 fair will run daily from 14:00 to 21:00, with free access for registered visitors and a packed programme of exhibitions, talks and commissions spread across the venue. The fair will host more than 140 galleries from over 35 countries, making it the largest edition to date and a serious calendar marker for collectors and casual visitors alike. The Visual Campaign Artist for 2025 is Emirati sculptor Shaikha Al Mazrou, whose work sets the visual tone for this year’s communication and on-site graphics. This breadth means Abu Dhabi Art is no longer just an art-market event, but a concentrated five-day snapshot of how the UAE presents itself to the global art world.
Key dates, timings and entry rules
The 2025 fair is scheduled from Wednesday 19 November to Sunday 23 November 2025 at Manarat Al Saadiyat in the Saadiyat Cultural District, with doors open every day from 14:00 to 21:00 local time. The official FAQ confirms that entry to the main fair is free, but visitors must register online to receive a complimentary pass that will be scanned at the entrance. Families can plan a visit after school or work, while collectors and industry visitors often choose the quieter early hours from 14:00 to around 17:00, especially on weekdays. Evenings, particularly Friday 21 November and Saturday 22 November, are expected to be busier as local audiences arrive after sunset. Entry is free but online registration is mandatory, so treat your pass like a timed ticket even if there is no fee.
How Abu Dhabi Art has grown
Abu Dhabi Art began in 2009 as a relatively compact fair linked to the early development of Saadiyat Island, and it has steadily grown into a city-wide programme that runs year-round through commissions and off-site projects before culminating in the November fair. The 2025 edition is described as the 17th, with expectations of more than 140 galleries representing over 35 countries, extending the fair’s reach across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Curated sectors and special exhibitions highlight both established blue-chip galleries and emerging scenes, allowing visitors to move between museum-quality presentations and more experimental work. The choice of Shaikha Al Mazrou as Visual Campaign Artist for 2025 underlines the fair’s commitment to placing Emirati voices at the centre of its global conversation. As a result, the November fair now functions as both an international marketplace and an annual report on how the UAE’s art ecosystem is evolving.
Exploring the galleries and special sections
Inside Manarat Al Saadiyat, the fair occupies several gallery halls and the central atrium, with booths laid out in long sightlines that encourage slow walking and repeat passes. Visitors can expect to see major international galleries alongside strong regional outfits, with dedicated sections often focusing on modern art from West Asia, North Africa and South Asia, as well as curated projects that experiment with exhibition formats. Programmes such as Beyond Emerging Artists bring new commissions by younger artists from the region, while other sections explore specific themes or geographies through tightly curated group shows. A practical approach is to start with one hall, walk it fully without worrying about taking notes, then loop back to the stands that caught your eye for deeper conversations and price enquiries. For a first-time visitor, planning at least two to three hours per visit is a realistic minimum to see the main highlights without rushing (children/family-friendly, couples, solo).
Talks, tours and workshops for all ages
Beyond the booths, Abu Dhabi Art runs a structured programme of panel discussions, artist talks, curator-led tours and film or performance events in the auditorium and studio spaces at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Guided tours, often offered in both Arabic and English, help visitors navigate key galleries and special projects, and schools or university groups can book tailored educational visits. The fair’s Educational Programme extends into hands-on workshops for children, teens and adults, usually hosted in the Art Studio inside Manarat Al Saadiyat and at partner sites in Al Ain. In previous editions, children’s drop-in studio sessions started at around 30 AED for 1.5 hours, junior workshops were typically around 50 AED, and artist-led masterclasses for adults were often about 100 AED per session, giving a reasonable benchmark for 2025 pricing, though exact fees may change. Expect most workshops and activities to sit in the approximate range of 30 to 100 AED, with some tours remaining free of charge (children/family-friendly, solo, couples).
teamLab and immersive experiences around the fair
The 2025 fair will coincide with the opening year of teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, an immense permanent digital art museum in the Saadiyat Cultural District that uses over 700 projectors to create a multi-sensory environment across some 17,000 square metres. That venue, together with teamLab’s presence in the Abu Dhabi Art 2025 programme, creates a strong dialogue between the temporary fair installation and the year-round museum just a short distance away. Visitors can therefore build a combined itinerary: one afternoon inside the fair, followed by an early evening slot at teamLab Phenomena, or vice versa, especially for those travelling in from other emirates who want to maximise a single day on Saadiyat Island. The combination of interactive digital works and traditional gallery stands also works especially well for families with children or teens who respond to immersive experiences. Pairing Abu Dhabi Art with a teamLab Phenomena visit can easily turn a standard fair day into a full cultural outing that appeals across age groups (children/family-friendly, couples, solo).
Inside Manarat Al Saadiyat
Manarat Al Saadiyat, whose name translates as “place of enlightenment”, opened in 2009 and has since become a flexible cultural hub with multiple galleries, a 250-seat auditorium, outdoor terrace, photography studio and art studio. The building is designed for events like Abu Dhabi Art, with high-ceilinged exhibition halls, a central atrium and on-site café and brasserie that can handle fair-time crowds. During the fair, the café and surrounding Saadiyat Cultural District options become valuable rest points between gallery circuits, especially for visitors planning multi-hour sessions. The venue address is Manarat Al Saadiyat, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Highway, Saadiyat Island, Cultural District, Abu Dhabi, and the main phone number is +971 2 657 5800. Thanks to its layout and on-site facilities, Manarat Al Saadiyat can comfortably support full afternoons and evenings at the fair without visitors needing to leave the complex for basic amenities (children/family-friendly, couples, solo).
Getting there, parking and public transport
Drivers coming from central Abu Dhabi can follow signs from Mina Port towards Yas Island, then cross Sheikh Khalifa bridge and continue on Highway E12 to Saadiyat Island before taking the Manarat Al Saadiyat exit. From Dubai, the usual route involves taking E11 towards Abu Dhabi, then switching to Sheikh Khalifa Highway E12 at the Saadiyat/Yas Island exit; the drive typically takes around 75 to 90 minutes depending on traffic. On-site parking at Manarat Al Saadiyat is free and usually sufficient on weekday afternoons, but Friday and Saturday evenings are noticeably busier, and spaces can fill around the 19:00 to 20:00 peak. Public bus options exist within Abu Dhabi, including services that stop near Saadiyat Island and Louvre Abu Dhabi, with typical local fares around 1 to 2 AED, while taxis from downtown Abu Dhabi to Saadiyat Island often cost approximately 35 to 50 AED one way. Parking is free but capacity can be tight on weekend evenings, so arriving close to opening time is wise, especially for visitors driving in from other emirates such as Dubai, Sharjah or Al Ain (children/family-friendly, couples, solo).
Travel plans from other emirates
For visitors coming from Dubai, a realistic plan for a Friday or Saturday is to leave between 11:00 and 11:30, allowing a comfortable margin for traffic on E11 and E12 and arriving near Manarat Al Saadiyat just before or shortly after the 14:00 opening. Those coming from Sharjah usually add at least 30 to 40 minutes to that journey, so aiming to depart by around 10:30 often makes sense, especially on busy weekends when intercity highways can slow around Abu Dhabi’s approach. From Al Ain, the drive to Saadiyat Island is longer, often around two hours, so many visitors prefer to combine Abu Dhabi Art with an overnight stay or a full day that also includes Louvre Abu Dhabi or a walk along Mamsha Al Saadiyat. For budget travellers, intercity buses into Abu Dhabi followed by a local bus or short taxi ride to Saadiyat Island can keep transport costs manageable, though return journeys late in the evening may require careful timetable checks. Whatever the starting point, planning the outbound and return trip together with your preferred visiting slot at the fair will reduce stress and make the day feel more like a curated cultural excursion than a rushed detour.
Weekend weather, clothing and practical warnings
For the key weekend days of Friday 21 November, Saturday 22 November and Sunday 23 November 2025, current forecasts for Abu Dhabi show hazy sunshine with daytime highs around 31°C and evening lows between about 20°C and 23°C, with no significant rain predicted at the time of writing. Humidity can still be noticeable in the afternoon, but the late-autumn conditions are generally comfortable compared with the summer months, and the fair itself is fully indoors with strong air conditioning. Light, breathable clothing and comfortable walking shoes are recommended, along with a thin layer such as a light cardigan or shawl for those who feel cold in heavily air-conditioned galleries. Because the whole site is paved and access to Manarat Al Saadiyat is via proper roads and walkways, mud is not expected to be an issue even if an isolated shower passes over the city, though short-lived puddles in the parking area are always possible. Traffic tends to build on Friday evening on the main approaches to Saadiyat Island and again when the fair closes around 21:00, so leaving a little before closing time or waiting half an hour in the café can both be sensible strategies. Make your registration and travel plan a few days in advance, as editors at www.few.ae regularly note that the most satisfying visits to Abu Dhabi Art come when tickets, timings, weather checks and transport are decided before the week of the fair.
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