From Formula 1 and the FIBA Basketball World Cup to concerts and food festivals, Qatar has unveiled a calendar of more than 560 events stretching through 2027.
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The programme comes as the Gulf country looks to build on record visitor numbers following a period of regional uncertainty.
Qatar welcomed 5.1 million visitors last year, according to Visit Qatar. Jassim Al Mahmoud, Director of PR and Communications at Visit Qatar, said another 2.9 million arrived in the first half of this year.
“The biggest number of visitors arrived to Qatar last year, so this is something that drives us to have such a rich calendar in order to enhance their experience, to have more options, more variety, to bring more visitors to Qatar,” Al Mahmoud said.
The Qatar Calendar brings events across sport, culture, entertainment and food together on a single platform, allowing residents and visitors to see what is happening and plan ahead.
A busy roster of events
Sport features heavily, with several major international competitions on the schedule.
The FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026 will run from 19 November to 13 December, while MotoGP returns to the Lusail International Circuit from 6 to 8 November.
The Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final follows from 10 to 12 December, with the Doha Marathon on 15 January 2027.
Top-tier tennis returns in February with the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, scheduled from 8 to 15 February.
Later in the year, Doha will host the FIBA Basketball World Cup from 27 August to 12 September 2027.
Formula 1 is also set to return to Lusail in 2027, with the Qatar Grand Prix scheduled from 3 to 5 December.
Beyond sport, the calendar also includes concerts, festivals, food and cultural events.
Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is among the international artists highlighted, alongside performances by Angham and Saint Levant. A Harry Potter film music concert is also on the programme.
Other events include the Qatar International Food Festival, Art Basel and the Al Ruwais Festival.
The idea is to give visitors a mix of experiences throughout the year rather than focusing solely on major sporting events, with shopping, food, culture and entertainment included alongside them.
Steve Harvey returns with more events
One familiar face at the launch was US TV host and comedian Steve Harvey, who has already hosted several events in Qatar.
Harvey said his previous experiences in the country helped bring him back.
“When it comes to beauty and architecture and landscape and the people, it’s just a great place to come,” Harvey said.
“I travel the world. And so this is a great place to come and do business and share the culture.”
Harvey said he had signed a multi-year deal to bring more entertainment events to Qatar, including the return of FuelFest, a new comedy series and Family Feud.
He also outlined plans to eventually stage what he called a Family Feud World Cup, bringing families from different countries to Qatar to compete in the game show.
Building the tourism sector
The calendar is also part of Qatar’s longer-term tourism strategy.
Doha has set a target of increasing tourism’s contribution to GDP to 12% by 2030, according to material released alongside the calendar launch.
Al Mahmoud said the range of events was intended to give visitors more options during their stays, spanning sport, culture, shopping and food.
“We believe that we have the offering,” he said. “We have lots of options, a lot of variety.”
He said the launch was also intended to signal continuity in Qatar’s events programme.
“By revealing the calendar, we are saying to the world that we are ready, we are open, we have a rich calendar,” Al Mahmoud said.
“Qatar remains fully operational.”