With landmark festivals, international galleries, and a strong emphasis on Emirati voices, Dubai Art Season 2026 positions the emirate as both a cultural incubator and a connector between creative worlds.
From January to April, Dubai once again positions culture at the heart of the city’s rhythm with the launch of Dubai Art Season 2026, an expansive, city-wide programme curated by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. Running from 21 January to 26 April, the season unfolds under the theme Take a walk on the art side—an invitation to experience Dubai not just as a global hub, but as a living cultural ecosystem shaped by literature, visual art, performance, and design.
The season opens in literary form with the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, one of the world’s most influential literary gatherings, returning from 21 to 27 January at InterContinental Dubai Festival City. Alongside global voices, Dubai Culture’s sponsorship of the BilEmirati and Translation strands places a welcome spotlight on Emirati writers and translators, foregrounding local narratives within an international conversation.
Later that month, Alserkal Avenue animates the Al Quoz Creative Zone with the Al Quoz Arts Fest (24–25 January), blending music, exhibitions, live showcases, and family-friendly programming into a distinctly urban cultural experience. This momentum continues at the Sikka Art & Design Festival (23 January–1 February), set within the historic lanes of Al Shindagha, where Emirati and GCC creatives explore Identities of the Future through art, performance, and dialogue.
Spring brings the season’s global centrepiece: Art Dubai (18–20 April) at Madinat Jumeirah. Featuring over 100 galleries from 35 countries, including a significant cohort of first-time exhibitors, the fair bridges contemporary, digital, and cross-cultural practices. In parallel, World Art Dubai at Dubai World Trade Centre offers a more accessible entry point to collecting, reinforcing the emirate’s commitment to visual literacy and emerging talent.
Beyond festivals, Dubai Art Season extends into museums, theatres, and alternative spaces—from retrospective exhibitions at Etihad Museum to jewellery history at L’ÉCOLE Middle East, and immersive digital art experiences across the city. Together, these moments form more than a calendar; they articulate Dubai’s evolving cultural identity, which is confident, plural, and increasingly central to its global story.
