linguistic:paraphrasing, structural:expansion, stylistic:style_transfer
Culture

The UAE's culture mainly reflects traditional Arab culture. The influence of Arab and Islamic culture on its architecture, music, attire, cuisine, and lifestyle is very prominent as well. Five times every day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques that are scattered around the country. Major holidays in Dubai include Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and National Day (2 December), which marks the formation of the United Arab Emirates.

The city's cultural imprint as a small, ethnically homogeneous pearling community was changed with the arrival of other ethnic groups and nationals—first by the Iranians in the early 1900s, and later by Indians and Pakistanis in the 1960s. In 2005, 84% of the population of metropolitan Dubai was foreign-born, about half of them from India.

From 2006 to 2022, the weekend had been Friday and Saturday, as a compromise between Friday's holiness to Muslims and the Western weekend of Saturday and Sunday. Prior to 2006, the weekend was Thursday-Friday. On 1 January 2022, Dubai moved to a four-and-a-half day working week, with the weekend comprising Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday.

Because of the touristic approach of many Dubaites in the entrepreneurial sector and the high standard of living, Dubai's culture has gradually evolved towards one of luxury, opulence, and lavishness with a high regard for leisure-related extravagance. Dubai is known for its nightlife. Clubs and bars are found mostly in hotels because of liquor laws. The New York Times described Dubai as "the kind of city where you might run into Michael Jordan at the Buddha Bar or stumble across Naomi Campbell celebrating her birthday with a multiday bash".

Annual entertainment events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) and Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) attract over 4 million visitors from across the region and generate revenues in excess of $2.7 billion. The International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the world's leading events trade association, has crowned Dubai as IFEA World Festival and Event City, 2012 in the cities category with a population of more than one million.

Large shopping malls in the city, such as Deira City Centre, Mirdiff City Centre, BurJuman, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall (the world's largest), Dubai Marina Mall, Dubai Hills Mall, Dragon Mart, Dubai Festival City Mall and Ibn Battuta Mall as well as traditional Dubai Gold Souk, Al Souk Al Kabir (known as Meena Bazaar) and other souks attract shoppers from the region.