Ramadan nights: Dubai comes alive with tents

By Diala Saadeh

DUBAI (Reuters) - From plain white charity tents set up by local mosques to glitzy marquees, Dubai comes alive at night during Ramadan.

Thousands of foreign workers queue up each afternoon to get a free meal at a charity tent, while on the other side of the Gulf hub rich Muslims stream into five-star hotels for lavish buffets, water-pipes and live music under canvas.

Inside the souk-style marquee of Diwan al-Khayal at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, crowds while away the evening as a live band plays Damascene music under red and green lights.

Some play cards or smoke water-pipes while dozens of waiters struggle to weave their way around the crowded tables.

Muslims refrain from eating, drinking or having sex during daylight hours during Ramadan, but sunset brings on the nightly "Iftars" when the fast is broken and the feast is on.

They invite family and friends to break bread together and put their feet up, as well as help feed the poor during a month devoted to piety, reflection and charity.

The online city planner www.timeoutdubai.com/dubai carried as many as 46 adverts for hotel marquees and buffets around Dubai under the headline "Your Ultimate Iftar Guide".

"We come here almost every night after we eat Iftar at home," said an Emirati woman at the Jumeirah Beach who gave her name as Jawaher. She was eating Kinafa -- a dessert like a cheesecake topped with syrup and pistachio nuts -- and drinking Turkish coffee.