The Very Hungry Caterpillar 2026 in Dubai

The Very Hungry Caterpillar comes to Dubai’s Meyana Theatre at Jumeirah Beach Hotel for three days in November, bringing Eric Carle’s picture-book favourite to life with more than 75 puppets. The full ticket title is The Very Hungry Caterpillar at Meyana Theatre, and it is a 55-minute show performed in English, made for toddlers, young children and the adults who have read the book aloud a hundred times.

Shows run from Sunday 8 to Tuesday 10 November 2026, with several performance times to pick from when you book. Children aged one and over need a ticket, and babies under one can sit on a parent’s lap.

The show behind the caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show was created by Jonathan Rockefeller and his company, Rockefeller Productions. It premiered at the Sydney Festival in January 2015, then opened Off-Broadway in New York the following month. A West End run at London’s Ambassadors Theatre followed in December 2016, and the show has since toured widely, including an Asian tour in 2019 that took in Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo.

Critics have been kind to it. The ticket page highlights praise from The New York Times, Time Out and The Huffington Post, and the original Off-Broadway production was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. According to the producers, it has now played in more than 20 countries to over 3 million children.

What happens on stage

The structure is simple and clever. Every performance includes The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the 1969 story of a caterpillar who eats his way through a week of food before turning into a butterfly. Alongside it, each production tells three other Eric Carle stories, so the show works as a short anthology rather than one long tale.

The Dubai ticket page does not say which three stories are in this production, and the selection has varied over the years. The original 2015 run, for example, paired the caterpillar with The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, Mister Seahorse and The Very Lonely Firefly. Part of the fun for children who know the books is spotting familiar characters as they appear.

A cast of storytellers carries the action, working more than 75 puppets to music written for the show. There is no complicated plot to follow, which is exactly why it suits very young audiences.

Why 55 minutes works

At just under an hour, the show is pitched at the attention span of a toddler. Short stories mean frequent changes of colour, character and music, so there is always something new to look at. For many families, it is a gentle first experience of live theatre before trying a full-length pantomime or musical.

Meyana Theatre at Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Meyana is a tiered auditorium on the first floor of the conference centre at Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The hotel describes it as theatre-style seating for around 400 guests, with built-in screen, sound and lighting. That smaller size is a plus for a puppet show: seats are fairly close to the stage, so little ones can see the puppets clearly.

The theatre bar opens one hour before each performance. Food and drink are only allowed in the theatre if bought at that bar, so leave packed snacks for after the show. Doors open 30 minutes before curtain up.

House rules for families

The venue’s rules are worth reading if you are bringing small children, because some are stricter than you might expect.

• Latecomers are admitted only at the discretion of the duty manager.
• There is strictly no readmission once you leave the auditorium, which matters for nappy changes and toilet trips.
• Tickets must be shown for entry and are valid only for the date and time booked.
• Seats are non-exchangeable and non-refundable.
• No professional cameras, audio or video recorders are allowed.

Who it suits

This is a show for toddlers, young children and their families, and it works especially well for households with a baby and an older sibling, since under ones go in on a lap. Grown-ups who loved the book as children tend to enjoy seeing it on stage too. It is also an easy birthday treat or playdate outing, because the running time leaves plenty of time for lunch or the beach.

Older children who have outgrown picture books may find it too gentle, and anyone hoping for a big-budget musical should look elsewhere.

Getting to Jumeirah Beach Hotel

By car, take Sheikh Zayed Road to exit 39 towards Umm Suqeim Street, take the D63 W/Umm Suqeim Road ramp and continue along Umm Suqeim Street to the hotel. By bus, route 8 runs from Ibn Battuta Bus Station to the Wild Wadi 1 stop, a short walk from the hotel. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are easy alternatives.

For more family days out, see our kids’ events in Dubai, browse shows and theatre or check things to do in November.