Doha, Qatar: Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the 17th Qatar International Falconry and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2026) will begin on Thursday, January 1, and run until January 24 at the Marmi Sabkha in Sealine. The festival is supported by the Social and Sports Activities Support Fund (Daam).
Director of Championships at the Al-Qannas Association and Head of the Marmi Festival, Mutaib Al-Qahtani, said the festival will officially open on the evening of January 1 with the Hadad Al-Tahadi (Challenge) competition. The first group will feature young peregrine falcons, where a homing pigeon is released followed by a falcon. A falcon that successfully catches or corners the pigeon is declared the winner, earning a prize of QR100,000 and qualifying for the final round to compete for a Lexus car. He noted that the Hadad Al-Tahadi competition includes 18 groups this year.
Al-Qahtani added that the second group of the Hadad Al-Tahadi competition will take place on January 2. On the same day, the morning session will see the start of qualifying rounds for the Al-Tala’ Championship, covering groups one to five. The Al-Tala’ competition features 30 groups and tests a falcon’s sharp eyesight, with a houbara bustard placed two kilometres away. The falcon that is first released and successfully lands to catch the prey qualifies. Qualifying rounds for groups six to ten will be held on Saturday, January 3.
From 10am to 10pm on January 3, the Promising Falconer Championship will be staged alongside the Saluki Racing Championship qualifiers. Al-Qahtani noted that online registration for promising falconers is open from December 25 until January 1 at 11pm. The championship is open to participants aged between six and 15 years and features a 200-metre lure race in two categories: Taba’ and Shuwayhinah (wild or captive-bred), and Qarmousha, Kubujwal and Loki (wild or captive-bred).
He further explained that Al-Tala’ Championship qualifiers will continue with groups 11–15 on January 4, groups 16–20 on January 5, groups 21–25 on January 6, and groups 26–30 on January 7. Following the completion of the qualifiers, the final rounds will be held, with dates to be determined by draw.
