Can I eat at a Dubai cinema hall during Ramadan?

If you have been in the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan, you probably know the rules to be followed during the holy month. Eating food or drinking water is prohibited in public as a matter of respect for those fasting.

There are allotted areas in Dubai shopping malls to eat food during the fasting hours and restaurants encourage takeaways. Post the ending of the fast in the evenings during Iftar, you are free to eat in public areas.

But if this is your first Ramadan in Dubai, you might be curious to know whether eating inside cinema halls is allowed.

A phone call with Reel Cinemas revealed that no food or water is sold at the counters for shows before Iftar across their Dubai outlets. There is also a change in their movie timings during the whole month. While the cinema hall will open at 10am, the first show will be at 1pm (weekdays) and 11am (weekends). The last show will end at 1am at Dubai Mall and Dubai Marina every day, except 11pm at Dubai Marina on weekends. As the footfalls during the Ramadan month reduces, cinema halls tend to reduce the number of screenings each day.

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Khaleej Times also spoke to Vox Cinemas, who revealed that food is available at their counters only for takeaways and moviegoers can only eat inside the cinema halls. Consuming food anywhere on the premises of Vox Cinemas, apart from inside the movie hall, is strictly prohibited.

At both of its outlets in Dragon Mart and Ibn Battuta Mall, Novo Cinemas allows buying of food only for children below 10 years and pregnant women. There are no restrictions for shows after the Iftar in the evenings.

Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales released over the weekend and has been enjoying a steady footfall. Thursday (June 1) will see the release of Wonder Woman, The Mummy on June 8, followed by Cars 3 on June 15. On the Bollywood front, Salman Khan's big ticket release Tubelight is set to release on June 22, 2017.

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Source: Khaleej Times