Qatar International Food Festival Closes Its 15th Edition with a Record 490,493 Visitors
Ten days at the 974 Stadium Precinct drew the festival’s biggest crowd yet, with 246 vendors, more than 50 chefs and the first QIFF Awards.
The 15th Qatar International Food Festival closed with 490,493 visitors over ten days, the highest attendance in its history and a rise of 36 per cent on the previous year, according to figures released through the Qatar News Agency on 26 January 2026. It ran from 14 to 24 January at the 974 Stadium Precinct in Doha and was organised by Visit Qatar.
Entry was free. The festival opened from 4 pm to 11 pm on weekdays and from 3 pm to 1 am at weekends, and visitors were pointed to the Doha Metro Gold Line, which stops at Ras Bu Abboud Station.
Who came, and what they found
Qatari nationals were the largest group of visitors at 22.1 per cent. International visitors made up 10 per cent, and 32 per cent of the crowd came back for repeat visits.
The festival hosted 200 local vendors and 46 international ones; the international count was up 43 per cent on the previous edition. More than 50 local and international chefs gave live cooking demonstrations, ran interactive workshops and led exclusive dining experiences.
The programme included the Open Fire Food Festival, curated by Steve Harvey, along with the QIFF Ring, QIFF Juniors and Dinner in the Sky. New this year were a QIFF Museum and a Concept Store. The opening evening featured a Qatari Fajri performance inspired by pearl-diving heritage and cultural showcases from Canada and Mexico, part of the Year of Culture initiative, and the programme also included a fireworks and drone display.
The first QIFF Awards
The festival introduced its own awards for the first time. Hookies Cookies took Longest Line. Ibis Doha was named Favourite Local Vendor and 99 Grill Favourite International Vendor, while Taco King was named Favourite Chef. An Honorary Award went to Shakarji for its contribution to the festival and to Qatar’s culinary scene.
The categories reward what a festival crowd sees, from queue length to a favourite stall, rather than what a restaurant guide inspects. For how Doha compares with the rest of the region, see our report on the restaurants shaping the wider Gulf.
What Visit Qatar said
Ahmed Binali, Visit Qatar’s director of festivals and events, said in the December announcement that the festival had become an important platform and a meeting point for the culinary community, families and visitors, and described the 2026 edition as a milestone for the festival’s guest experiences, created with chefs, restaurants and community partners. The closing report said the festival will return next year; it gave no dates for a 2027 edition.
Sources & fact-check3
- Qatar International Food Festival 2026 concludes 15th edition welcoming nearly half a million visitorsQatar News Agency, 26 January 2026
- Visit Qatar announces Qatar International Food Festival set for January 14Qatar News Agency, 22 December 2025
- Qatar International Food Festival opens, celebrates 15 years of culinary excellenceMarhaba Qatar, 15 January 2026
Every name, number and date in this story was checked against the sources above before publication. Spotted something wrong? Tell us — we correct errors openly. See our editorial standards.
