Ras Al Khaimah Art 2026 Festival 

In the last few years the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival has grown into a solid contributor to the UAE’s arts and culture scene, with a community-oriented twist to the mix of exhibitions, performances, workshops and film screenings. There’s always a theme – this year it’s ‘Civilizations’, a catch-all which should be able to accommodate just about any kind of culture – but the characteristic feature is the community engagement and the strong sense of RAK itself being part of the festival.

It has an excellent site at Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, which is where most of the exhibitions and events happen – exhibitions are open for the whole of the festival (16 January to 8 February), but performances and other one-offs occupy the three weekends.

This first weekend sees guided art and heritage tours, several workshops – including calligraphy, light art, traditional agriculture, and a two-day Photowalk and Film Photography masterclass – and live performances. They kick off with AlMaydee’s soulful soft rock (Friday, 9-9.45pm) and the Saturday stage gets Luiza (jazzy pop, great voice) followed by the AFCENT Band (that’s the official US Air Forces Central ensemble with a signature mix of pop, rock, and big band jazz).

Elsewhere in the village there’s Alana Hicks with a one-woman show titled Voices in the Dark (“a thoughtful exploration of identity, culture, and the threads that bind us: Saturday 6pm) and James Scarr with his excellent Mime Show (Sunday 6pm).

New for 2026 is The Hidden Table, a curated culinary programme that expands the festival into gastronomy by positioning food as a form of cultural storytelling; the first two weekends get Chama, an open-fire dining experience by Portuguese chef Tiago Pazzini with no fixed menu (“each evening is guided by seasonality, elemental cooking, and instinct, allowing cuisine to unfold as a live, creative expression”). The final weekend it’s Restaurant Pine, the creation of Northumberland chefs Cal Byerley and Ian Waller to celebrate “the rhythm of the seasons [and] a modern echo of ancient land”.

Chama will cost you AED 350 but entrance to the festival and most of the other happenings are free, including the live music. Preregistration is required for the spaces-limited events like the workshops; check out the full first-weekend programme here.