Skip brunch: Dubai’s freshest seafood party is at Waterfront Market this winter

Waterfront Market in Deira is going full ocean mode this winter. From 10 December 2025 to 7 January 2026, the city’s biggest food market turns into a Seafood Festival with fresh catches, restaurant offers, kids’ activities and weekend entertainment. 

Instead of another mall outing, this one actually smells like the sea. You can shop at the fish market, eat at the waterfront restaurants, let the kids run around with their foodie passports and maybe walk away with AED 1,000 worth of fresh produce if you win the draw. 

If you’ve seen the spice rangoli activation they did for Diwali, you know Waterfront Market doesn’t do “small”. This festival sits in the same lane: big, busy and built for families.

What’s happening at the Seafood Festival?

The festival packs the whole month with food-focused fun, seasonal touches and weekend entertainment. 

• Dates: 10 December 2025 – 7 January 2026
• Venue: Waterfront Market, Deira, Dubai
• Roaming acts every Friday to Sunday
• Seafood-themed festive tree and décor
• Restaurant offers and Market-to-Table experiences

Across the market you’ll find live roaming music, bubble shows and kids’ face painting on weekends, plus a big seafood-inspired festive tree as the main photo spot. Restaurants along the promenade and inside the market are layering on special offers and menus for the festival window. 

If you like this kind of seasonal activation, it sits nicely alongside other winter markets in the city, like Ripe’s Courtyard pop-ups in Al Quoz.

Restaurant deals, Market-to-Table and where to eat

This isn’t just about buying fish to cook at home. Waterfront Market’s Seafood Festival is very much “come hungry, leave full”. 

• Offers across all Waterfront restaurants
• Named spots include:
  • Paluto Restaurant
  • BOAT Seafood Restaurant
  • Yahya Seafood Restaurant
  • Aylla Seafood Restaurant & Cafe 
• Market-to-Table: buy seafood in the market, get it cleaned and cooked for you at the restaurants

The Market-to-Table journey is simple: you pick your seafood from the fish market, staff clean it on site, and chefs at the waterfront restaurants cook it the way you want it—grilled, fried, steamed or turned into curries and soups.  It’s very “zero distance from sea to plate”, and a nice contrast to the usual mall food courts.

For more waterfront dining inspo beyond Deira, you can always cross-check with our guides to beachside restaurants and new openings across Dubai, like J1 Beach and Mina Al Salam.

Fresh catches: what you’ll actually find

Waterfront Market is already known as Dubai’s big fish market. The festival just gives you an excuse to pay more attention to what’s on ice. 

• 500+ seafood traders
• 260+ seafood varieties from 14 countries
• Live seafood section with 25 varieties
• Sourcing from UAE, Australia, Japan, Korea and Canada
• Seasonal focus on:
  • Hamour
  • Shrimp
  • King Fish
  • Tuna
  • King Mackerel
  • Seabream 

You’re not stuck choosing between “salmon or nothing”. The live seafood section alone pulls in 25 varieties from the UAE and countries like Australia, Japan, Korea and Canada, while over 500 traders cover more than 260 types of seafood overall. 

So if you’ve only ever cooked hamour or shrimp at home, this is where you can branch out into King Mackerel, different cuts of tuna or whole seabream, and get the restaurants to cook it properly for you.

Prizes, promos and free cooler bags

Yes, there’s food. But there are also prizes and free stuff, because Dubai. 

• Spend AED 200+ at:
  • The fish market or
  • Any Waterfront restaurant
• Get a free insulated cooler bag
• Enter a draw to win AED 5,000 in prizes
• Five winners, AED 1,000 each in Waterfront Market fresh produce 

The cooler bag is handy if you’re stocking up on fresh fish and don’t want it warming up in the car on the way back to Sharjah or beyond. The same spend also enters you into a draw for five prizes of AED 1,000 each in market produce—so someone’s weekly grocery bill is getting lighter.

If you’re into similar “shop and win” style city promos, it feels a bit like Dubai Home Festival’s spend-and-win campaigns, just with more fish than furniture.

Kids’ foodie passports and family-friendly bits

Waterfront Market is leaning hard into the “bring the kids” angle for this festival. 

• Kids Foodie Explorers Passport
• Little Rollers mini trolleys for children
• Stamp collecting across the market
• Learn about new ingredients
• Certificates and small prizes for kids who complete the journey 

Instead of dragging bored children through a supermarket, this turns the market into a mini quest. Kids collect stamps as they move through different sections, learn what those strange-looking fish actually are, and pick up a certificate and small prizes along the way.

Waterfront Market has been quietly building a reputation as a family-friendly spot, from Diwali spice art to foodie events. The Seafood Festival builds on that, with enough moving parts—music, shows, passports—to keep everyone busy while you argue over how much hamour to buy.

Practical info: location and timings

The Market is part of the Deira Enrichment Project on Al Khaleej Street, close to Dubai International Airport and major roads. 

• Location: Waterfront Market, Deira, Dubai
• Open: Daily (different sections have different timings; check the site) 
• Full timings: listed on the official website
• Website: waterfrontmarket.ae 
• Instagram: @wfm.uae
• Facebook: @waterfrontmarket 

For another style of open-air food outing this winter, you can also check our coverage of seasonal markets and food-focused festivals across the UAE, from Meats & Mountains in Al Ain to outdoor family markets in Dubai.

FAQs

When is the Waterfront Market Seafood Festival 2025?

The Seafood Festival at Waterfront Market runs from 10 December 2025 to 7 January 2026, covering the full winter break and New Year period in Dubai. 

Where is Waterfront Market in Dubai?

Waterfront Market is in Deira on Al Khaleej Street, as part of the Deira Enrichment Project, not far from Dubai International Airport and major road links.  

How do I join the AED 5,000 prize draw?

Spend AED 200 or more at the fish market or any Waterfront restaurant during the festival. You’ll get a free insulated cooler bag and entry into a draw where five winners receive AED 1,000 each in Waterfront Market fresh produce. 

Is the Seafood Festival family-friendly?

Yes. There’s roaming entertainment (music, bubble shows, face painting) on weekends, plus a Kids Foodie Explorers Passport and Little Rollers trolleys so children can learn about ingredients and collect stamps for certificates and small prizes. 

Do I need a booking to use the Market-to-Table service?

You don’t need a special package. You buy your seafood at the market, get it cleaned on site, then take it to participating waterfront restaurants, where chefs cook it for you—grilled, fried, steamed or in curries and soups. Charges depend on what and where you order, but the concept itself is built into how the Market operates. 

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