All Day

Children’s Biennial

Umm Al Emarat Park Abu Dhabi

What a good idea this is: the Abu Dhabi Festival is running the first outdoor children’s art biennale in the Middle East Under the theme How the World Feels, the Biennale will explore how children experience the world through touch, [... more]

Standard park entry AED 10

Sharjah Architecture Triennial: opening week

[various Sharjah locations]

The third edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial runs 14 November to to 14 April under the theme Architecture Otherwise: Building Civic Infrastructure for Collective Futures. Curated by Vyjayanthi Rao, with Tau Tavengwa as Associate Curator, SAT03 brings together 35 [... more]

Free

Sliman Mansour: Promises and Scars

Warehouse 46 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

A mini-retrospective for Sliman Mansour during Alserkal Art Week 2026 covering five decades of his work – “the first time since 2011 that such an extensive body of the artist’s work has been brought together in a single exhibition”, says [... more]

Free

History Otherwise: Women Modernists from the Arab World

Concrete Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

Curated by Suheyla Takesh and Rémi Homs, this exhibition features works from the Barjeel Art Foundation collection, including pieces by Inji Efflatoun, Samia Halaby and Mona Saudi; it also has some archival exhibition posters dating from the 1940s to the [... more]

NOMAD Abu Dhabi

Terminal 1, Old Abu Dhabi Airport Al Diyafah Street, Abu Dhabi

The fair for upmarket collectible design, contemporary art, jewellery and crafts returns to the iconic decommissioned Terminal 1 of the old Abu Dhabi Airport with more than 50 exhibitors and a much expanded programme. "This year, we have a better [... more]

Free, but pre-register

Frieze Abu Dhabi

Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi

Building on nearly two decades of Abu Dhabi Art, the inaugural edition of Frieze Abu Dhabi marks a new chapter for the region's international art scene. The aim is to connect Abu Dhabi and local arts ecosystem with Frieze's global [... more]

Day pass: AED 57.75

World Art Dubai

Dubai World Trade Centre Dubai

The region's premier affordable art fair is back, with all its stalls having sold out and the promise of more than 10,000 artworks from 300+ artists and galleries to see (the exhibitor list is here). There's a busy programme of [... more]

AED 30

The Comedy Lab

Radisson Red Dubai Digital Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai

Mad Cat Comedy's regular Thursday stop in Silicon Oasis promises "insane laughs every week".  The door price of AED 99 includes one drink and popcorn.

AED 99

Cocktails and Comedy

Bondz Unit 156 Level POD, Emirates Financial Tower, DIFC, Dubai

“Dubai’s hottest comedy night” (aka the Mad Cat team) come to the moodily-lit speakeasy style bar in DIFC for a regular Thursday gig. The door price includes one drink.

AED 99