Sharjah events, by group bus.

Bus rental in Sharjah for event days

Sharjah runs a busy events calendar, and it is a different kind of calendar from Dubai’s. Less stadium, more culture: a large book fair, a light festival through the winter months, arts and heritage programmes in the old town, trade shows, school and community days, and weddings that fill the halls every weekend. Organisers announce dates and programmes each year, so we print none here.

A group that hires a bus in Sharjah for one of these days gets three things a car cannot give it. One arrival time. A driver who has planned the drop-off. And a seat at the end of the night, when every taxi is taken. The basics of vehicles, areas and monthly routes are on our bus rental in Sharjah page.

The events groups actually book for

• Exhibitions and fairs at Expo Centre Sharjah in Al Taawun, from a book fair to trade shows, where visitors, exhibitors and stand crews all need different timings
• Light festivals and evening events around the waterfronts, such as Al Majaz and Al Qasba
• Heritage and arts programmes in the Heart of Sharjah, the old town, where streets are narrow and walking is part of the visit
• School, college and community days: a library visit, a science day, a family outing from a mosque or a society
• Company days and conference sessions held in Sharjah hotels, with delegates staying in Dubai or Ajman

At public events the organisers decide where coaches may stop; at private ones the venue does. Either way our first question is the same: where does the vehicle stop, and how far is that from the door?

Drop-off, parking and the last few hundred metres

This is the part that decides whether a big event goes well. On a busy evening the roads around a popular venue fill up long before the doors do, and the official drop-off point is rarely at the entrance. Some events set a coach bay. Others ask coaches to drop off and move to parking away from the site. In the old town the lanes are narrow, so a coach may stop on the edge and the group walks in.

We can’t tell you the rules for a particular event, because organisers set them and change them from year to year. What we do is simple. When you send the event name and date, we look for the organiser’s guidance on coaches and parking, plan the drop-off around it, and tell you honestly how far the group will walk. If the walk is long and your group includes older guests or small children, a van that can get closer is sometimes a better answer than a coach.

Parking in Sharjah is paid in many areas and tariffs change. Venue parking, if any, goes on the quote.

Timing an evening event

Evening events are all about the return. Everyone arrives at a sensible hour, but everyone leaves at the same moment, and a festival that finishes at ten o’clock sends thousands of people towards the same few roads.

Here is how we work it back from the programme. Take the time your group wants to arrive. Subtract the drive. Subtract a buffer of 30 to 45 minutes for the queue into the venue area, which on a festival night can be longer than the drive itself. For the return, agree a pick-up time with a margin built in, and a meeting place you can both find in the dark.

Example: a group from Al Qusais in Dubai to a light festival, aiming to arrive at 18:30. The drive is about 30 to 40 minutes in clear traffic. With the buffer, the bus leaves at 17:30. For the return, the group meets the driver at 22:15 at the agreed point.

Example: a school group to a daytime fair at Expo Centre Sharjah. Doors open mid-morning, so the coach leaves Ajman at 08:15, arrives by 09:00 and collects at 13:30, which gets the children back before the afternoon school run fills the roads.

People forget to budget for waiting. A bus that sits for four hours is still a bus you are paying for, so where it works we suggest a drop and a separate return pick-up.

Which vehicle for which group

At events with tight drop-off points, two smaller vehicles often beat one coach. The bus size guide shows how to count seats properly.

Coming from Dubai, Ajman or further north

Most groups travel into Sharjah from outside it. From Dubai the journey is about 30 to 60 minutes depending on the hour, and the Dubai to Sharjah corridor is heavily congested in the morning peak and again from late afternoon. See Sharjah to Dubai by bus for the road and the public options. From Ajman it is a short hop, often 15 to 25 minutes. Umm Al Quwain or Ras Al Khaimah groups need roughly an hour or more.

If guests are flying in for the event, add the airport. Sharjah International is close to the city, and we plan Sharjah airport transfers into the same timetable, so one driver can take the group from arrivals to the hotel and on to the venue.

What an event day costs

Our starting prices cover a full day of up to 10 hours with driver and fuel: a 13-seater van from AED 450 per day, a 30-seater from AED 550, a 35-seater from AED 600 and a 50-seater coach from AED 650. The typical market range for a 50-seater is AED 699 to 800 a day. Your written quote sets the exact price for your date, hours and route, and the full table is on the bus rental prices page.

Example: 45 students and teachers on a 50-seater from Ajman for a book fair day. The coach starts from AED 650 for the day, roughly AED 14 a head before the route, hours and any extras are added.

Example: a family of ten to a festival evening. A 13-seater van from AED 450 beats three taxis and can drop everyone closer to the entrance.

Hours, distance, date and waiting time move the price. Event weekends from October to March are busiest, so ask two to four weeks ahead.

What to send us

To quote a Sharjah event properly we need five things: the event name and date, the pick-up place and time, the headcount, the return time you want, and whether anyone needs step-free access. Send them through the booking form or email info@emiratesbushire.com. If your event needs more than one bus, our event shuttles page explains how multi-vehicle loops work.

Related: Bus rental Sharjah · Event Shuttles · Bus size guide · Bus rental prices · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Sharjah to Dubai by bus: How the public buses between Sharjah and Dubai work, where they struggle at rush hour, and when a private bus is worth it.
• School trip transport in Sharjah: A planning guide for teachers in Sharjah: who decides what, a countdown to the day, Sharjah traffic timing and trips by length.
• Sharjah to Dubai staff transport: Daily staff routes from Sharjah and Ajman into Dubai, on a fixed monthly timetable with a regular driver.
• Bus rental Sharjah: Vans, minibuses and 30 to 50-seat coaches with drivers, collecting from anywhere in Sharjah.
• University transport in Sharjah: Chartered buses for University City Sharjah: field trips, student routes, orientation days and graduation, with timing and cost.
• Sharjah Airport transfers: Arrival pick-ups and departures at Sharjah International for groups, in vans, minibuses and coaches.