What To Expect at The 2026 Quoz Art Fest
Quoz Arts Fest by Alserkal has always felt like a neighbourhood you step into. One that happens to be buzzing with inspiration, sound, movement, and people who care deeply about what they’re making. Its 14th edition, returning on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January 2026, expands across Alserkal Avenue and the wider Al Quoz Creative Zone, turning the area into a living map of art, music, performance, food, and shared curiousity.
This year leans heavily into experiences that ask you to move with them. One of the most anticipated moments is Numen/For Use’s TAPE project, landing in Dubai for the first time inside Concrete. The cocoon-like structure, wrapped, stretched, and suspended, blurs the line between architecture and sculpture, inviting visitors to physically enter and navigate it.
Sound carries through the festival in more ways than one. The music programme brings together artists who feel deeply rooted yet forward-facing: Yasmine Hamdan, DAM, TootArd, Gaya, and Gayathri Krishnan as headliners. A standout moment will include From the Lips to the Moon, a collaborative sonic performance by Pouya Ehsaei and Tara Fatehi that unfolds as spoken word, improvisation, and collective listening. Elsewhere, performances like Jean-Baptiste André’s Floe transform visual installation into a living stage, while Stage 2.0 keeps things fluid, spotlighting emerging voices and spontaneous collaborations across the weekend.
Quoz Arts Fest extends beyond galleries and stages. Reel Palestine returns with Cinema Akil, pairing independent Palestinian cinema with a vibrant souk of crafts, food, and design rooted in heritage and storytelling. Families are thoughtfully woven into the experience too, with sensory-led environments for children across Jossa (warehouse 45). There’s also room for reflection and inclusivity, with multimedia works by adults of determination presented through Mawaheb.
Alongisde the experiences, Jotun’s Colour Trends 2026 arrives as a walk-through pop-up designed to be experienced on the go, not paused for. Split into three colour worlds shaped by how we’re living now, the space invites visitors to engage through short colour sessions, hands-on workshops, and playful activities for kids.
Don’t forget the food! Scattered across the lanes are pop-ups, neighbourhood concepts, and warehouse takeovers offering everything from morning coffee to late-night bites. One of the more quietly compelling stops is bkry, an experimental bakespace embedded within Alserkal itself. Here, baking is treated with the same care and curiosity as the art around it. More vendors include L'Art Rue, Nama Yoso, Dastarkhan, StoneCraft Pizza, and more.
There’s a lot of shopping to also be done at Quoz Art Fest. Retail pop-ups include skincare label Hae, pottery studio Yadawei, vintage and thrift store digg.it, and more.
