Photos of the Qatar Kite Festival at Old Doha Port on January 15, 2026 ( Hana Ramadan / The Peninsula)
Doha, Qatar: The skies above Old Doha Port came alive with colourful kites as teams from 20 countries painted a striking scene over one of Qatar’s landmark destinations as the Qatar Kite Festival kicked off on Thursday.
Despite windy weather, the festival’s opening day drew a large crowd of residents, visitors and citizens, with families enjoying a wide range of activities, food and beverage options, and a dedicated play area for children.
The festival runs until January 24, 2024 and is open to the public daily, from 10am to 10pm on weekends and from 3pm to 10pm on weekdays.
Among the participants was Mohammed bin Qasem Al-Nasir Al-Harrasi from Omani team, who told The Peninsula, “we are delighted to be here at this beautiful place, Old Doha Port. This event is one of the great and beautiful festivals in the whole region. We welcome everyone to come.”
The festival attracted kite flyers from around the globe.
Andy Sadler, a pilot from the UK who is attending with her husband Andrew, said, “this is our first visit to Qatar for the kite festival. It’s a fantastic, wonderful place to come and fly kites.”
She added that their team brought several large kites, including “a 27-metre crocodile” and “a big whale shark,” as well as LED kites for night flying.
“We are really looking forward to it,” she said.
Visitors also praised the organisation of the event. Hassan Almosawi, an organiser of the Visit Qatar Kite Festival, told The Peninsula, “today is our opening day, and we are going to be here in Old Doha Port for our fourth edition of the festival. We welcome all our visitors from Doha and the neighbouring countries, and we hope that families and children will have an enjoyable time here.”
This year’s edition features more, and bigger, kites than ever, with visitors also able to purchase kites from booths across the festival grounds.
Thanks to its location near the Old Doha Port terminal and the panoramic Doha skyline, the event adds to the capital’s winter calendar, alongside other seasonal attractions and festivals aimed at drawing more visitors and strengthening Qatar’s position as a leading tourism destination in the region.
