Sikka Art & Design Festival 2026 turns Dubai’s historic waterfront into a walkable lab of art, design, and urban culture, and it is one of the key reasons to be in the city at the very start of the year. Sikka is a chance to see a different Dubai: not just towers and malls, but narrow lanes, traditional houses, and a dense programme driven by regional artists and designers.
Where and when: the city as a route
The 14th Sikka Art & Design Festival will run from 23 January to 1 February 2026 in Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood, along Dubai Creek. Instead of a convention centre, the festival uses restored Emirati houses, courtyards, and alleyways as its main exhibition architecture, turning the neighbourhood into a temporary cultural district.
Organised by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority under the patronage of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sikka is officially framed as a pillar of the emirate’s cultural strategy. Recent editions have drawn more than 160,000 visitors, presented around 390 artworks, and installed up to 45 public art pieces. It also hosted over 460 workshops and 100 live performances, from music and theatre to orchestral concerts and children’s activities.
What the festival is about
Sikka is purposefully focused on Emirati and GCC‑based artists and designers. It is built as a platform for local and regional voices, both emerging and established. The open call for 2026 stresses that all submissions must be new, previously unseen works that speak to Dubai’s culture, communities, and urban context rather than simply being dropped into it.
The disciplines are broad:
– visual art, painting and drawing;
– photography, digital art and new media;
– design, product and spatial experiments;
– installations, ceramics and public art;
– performance, urban culture, music, and theatre.
Around this, Sikka builds a thick layer of activity. It includes talks, workshops, family programmes, food concepts, and pop‑up retail that bring together design objects, books, crafts, and culinary projects rooted in local traditions. The result feels less like a single exhibition and more like a compact city festival where you can easily spend a full day and still not see everything.
Why Sikka matters for the UAE art map
Sikka Art & Design Festival 2026 is one of the clearest entry points into Dubai’s local contemporary scene, a place where you meet artists, designers, and collectives without the formality. Walking through Al Shindagha during the festival, you move from painting to performance, from ceramics to sound, and from a small artist‑run room to a packed outdoor concert, all within a few streets.
To get more information about the Sikka Art & Design Festival, please go to its official website.
You might also be interested in exploring the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival 2026 and visiting the Al Shindagha Museum.
