Doha, Qatar : Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the 17th edition of the Qatar International Falconry and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2026) will commence on Thursday, January 1, and continue until the 24th.
The festival is supported by the Social and Sports Activities Support Fund “Daam” and will be held in the Marmi Sabkha in Sealine.
Director of Championships at the Al-Qannas Association and Head of the Marmi Festival Mutaib Al-Qahtani revealed that the Challenge competition will officially launch the festival on the evening of January 1, 2026, with the group The first competition, he noted, is dedicated to young peregrine falcons. It involves releasing a homing pigeon and then releasing a falcon towards it. If the falcon manages to catch or corner the pigeon, it is considered the winner and receives a prize of QR100,000, in addition to qualifying for the final and competing for a Lexus car. He explained that the number of groups in the Hadad Al-Tahadi competition is 18 in this edition of the festival.
He said that the Hadad Al-Tahadi competition continues with the second group the following day (January 2nd). On the same day, during the morning session, the qualifying rounds for the Al-Talaa competition for groups 1 through 5 will begin. He clarified that the competition sees the participation of 30 groups, relying on the falcon’s keen eyesight in spotting its prey. A houbara bustard is placed 2 kilometers from the falcon’s location, and the falcon that is first released and lands to catch it qualifies. The following day (Saturday, January 3rd), the qualifying rounds for groups 6 and 10 will take place. From 10am to 10pm, the Promising Falconer Championship will take place, running concurrently with the Saluki Racing Championship qualifiers.
The head of the Marmi Festival noted that the organising committee has opened online registration for promising falconers from December 25th to January 1st (11pm). He pointed out that the championship is open to the 6-15 year old age group. The competition will be a 200-metre lure race for two categories: (Taba’ and Shuwayhinah, wild or captive-bred) and (Qarmousha, Kubujwal, and Loki, wild or captive-bred).
Al-Qahtani added that the Al-Tala’ Championship for groups 11-15 will be held on January 4th, groups 16-20 on January 5th, groups 21-25 on January 6th, and groups 26-30 on January 7th.
He indicated that once the Al-Tala’ Championship qualifiers are completed, the competition will proceed. The draw will determine the dates for the upcoming final rounds.
