The competitions of the 17th edition of the Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2026) will kick off on Thursday at Sabkhat Marmi in the Sealine area, under the patronage of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani.
It will continue until January 24, 2026. The festival is supported by the Social and Sports Activities Support Fund (Daam). Held annually, the festival comes as part of Qatar’s efforts to preserve the heritage of falconry as a Qatari and Gulf tradition, as well as a global legacy, since Qatar alongside several other countries, successfully registered falconry on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011.
Since then, the festival has become a major landmark for this world heritage, attracting thousands of falconers from Qatar and the Gulf region, in addition to participants from several Arab and foreign countries. It also receives significant visits from enthusiasts of falcon sports and breeding worldwide.
Metab Mubarak al-Qahtani, Director of Championships at the Al Qannas Qatari Society and President of the Marmi Festival, explained that the Marmi Festival represents an important annual milestone for falconers not only in Qatar, but across the region, due to the strength and diversity of its competitions.
He stressed that the festival has become an annual platform for preserving a heritage that is deeply cherished as part of the local environment, presenting it in an appealing manner for all audiences while safeguarding the tradition and the sport for falconers and enhancing sustainability.
Al Qahtani noted that this year’s Marmi Festival will feature a new visual identity inspired by Qatar’s rich heritage and history. This has been reflected in the design of the festival site at Sabkhat Marmi in the Sealine, with architecture inspired by historic Qatari towers and colors drawn from Qatar’s soil and natural landscape.
He pointed out that this championship has seen increasing momentum year after year due to the intensity of competition and challenge between young peregrine falcons and homing pigeons, in addition to the significant financial value of winning and qualifying. The winner is crowned directly at the festival site with a prize of QAR 100,000, in addition to qualifying for the final round and competing for the competition’s major prizes.