2026-09-06
ADNEC Group, a Modon company, will host more than 290 events at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi and ADNEC Centre Al Ain in the second half of 2026, according to the programme published by the Abu Dhabi Media Office on Sunday 6 September 2026. Of the exhibitions in the calendar, 21% are being held in the Middle East for the first time, and four international associations are holding their events in the Middle East for the first time. Also new to the region is the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, from 26 September to 1 October. The headline dates are the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on 13-18 September, AI Everything Abu Dhabi on 6-7 October, ADIPEC on 2-5 November, the Abu Dhabi International Boat Show on 19-22 November and the 2026 UN Water Conference on 8-10 December. Added to the 192 events of the first-half programme, the two venues are heading for more than 480 events in 2026. This article lists the calendar month by month, with dates checked against the organisers’ sites, compares it with the first-half programme published in January, and sets out what a company planning to exhibit, attend or hire around these events should prepare.
The headline numbers: over 290 events, 21% of exhibitions new to the region, four first-time congresses
The release describes the second half of 2026 as a record for ADNEC Group’s two UAE venues. ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi carries the international exhibitions and congresses; ADNEC Centre Al Ain is positioned as a community venue for cultural exhibitions, indoor sport, graduations and entertainment. The sectors named for the Abu Dhabi calendar are energy, artificial intelligence, defence, healthcare, education, food security, finance, fashion, marine lifestyle, health and wellness and sustainability. The table compares the two half-year programmes as ADNEC published them.
| Indicator | H1 2026 (programme of 9 January 2026) | H2 2026 (programme of 6 September 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Events at the two UAE venues | 192 (125 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, 67 at ADNEC Centre Al Ain) | over 290 |
| Events new to the Middle East | 12 named events, including IAAPA Expo Middle East and the WCO Technology Conference | 21% of the exhibitions and four international associations |
| Flagship dates | Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 11-15 January, UMEX and SimTEX 20-22 January, Make it in the Emirates 4-7 May | Book Fair 13-18 September, AI Everything 6-7 October, ADIPEC 2-5 November, Boat Show 19-22 November |
| United Nations events | 15th UN Crime Congress listed for 25-30 April (later moved) | 15th UN Crime Congress 26 September to 1 October, 2026 UN Water Conference 8-10 December |
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of ADNEC Group, said the season “reflects the resilience of the events industry and the continued international confidence in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi as a leading hub for global gatherings”. Khalifa Al Qubaisi, Chief Commercial Officer of ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, said the second half “will showcase the strength, diversity, and scale” of the two calendars, from global congresses and flagship exhibitions to cultural festivals and community events. For context, ADNEC Group’s venues as a whole, which also include ExCeL London and the Business Design Centre in London, hosted 1,149 events and 6.3 million visitors in 2025, and the group’s contribution to the UAE economy that year was AED 9.2 billion.
September 2026 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi: Book Fair, defence, education and the UN Crime Congress
The second half opened with the 23rd Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, which ran from 28 August to 6 September with 2,405 exhibitors from 71 countries, the largest edition in its history; the figures are in our article on ADIHEX 2026. Over the summer the venue also held Abu Dhabi Summer Sports 2026 and, on 8-9 July, the first Money Expo at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. From the second week of September the programme moves to trade and congress events.
| Event | Dates | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Middle East Film and Comic Con | 11-13 September | Pop culture, film, gaming and collectibles show |
| Abu Dhabi International Book Fair | 13-18 September | Publishing and literature fair organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism |
| Ajban Defence Industry & Technology Exhibition | 21-22 September | Supply chain and manufacturing for the defence industry |
| The Education Interface | 22-23 September | Academic pathways matched to the future labour market of Abu Dhabi and the UAE |
| Teeb Al Hazm | 25 September to 5 October | Perfume exhibition for fragrance houses, perfumers and retailers |
| 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice | 26 September to 1 October | Hosted by the UAE Government; first time in the region |
| LiveX Exhibition | 29 September to 1 October | Sustainable living projects and ideas for Abu Dhabi |
The UN Crime Congress is the largest of the first-time events. According to the UN registration system, the congress runs at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi from 26 September to 1 October 2026 under the theme “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, and participant registration closes on 23 September 2026. It brings together governments, civil society, academia and experts; the congresses are held every five years. The Book Fair dates were confirmed on the organiser’s site as 13-18 September 2026. September is also the busiest month of the year in Dubai, with the International Property Show and AIM Congress on 7-9 September, Arabian Travel Market on 14-17 September and GISEC Global on 16-18 September; the two cities’ calendars are set out side by side in our overview of the UAE’s September 2026 business-events season.
October 2026: AI Everything, Global Food Week and the health summits
ADNEC calls October one of the busiest months of the year at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. AI Everything Abu Dhabi opens on 6 October with the AI Summit on policy and strategy, followed by the AI Expo on 6-7 October; the organiser’s site lists the summit under the title “New Intelligence” and gives more than 350 technology companies and startups for the expo. Global Food Week runs alongside it on 6-8 October and includes the Abu Dhabi International Date Palm Exhibition.
| Event | Dates | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| AI Everything Abu Dhabi: AI Summit and AI Expo | 6 October (summit), 6-7 October (expo) | AI policy, infrastructure, investment and enterprise adoption |
| Global Food Week with the Abu Dhabi International Date Palm Exhibition | 6-8 October | Food security, agriculture and the date-palm sector |
| Najah Abu Dhabi | 18-21 October | Higher education, training and careers fair |
| Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders’ Summit | 19-20 October | Regional sustainability summit |
| DIA Middle East and Africa Conference | 19-22 October | Pharmaceutical, clinical research and regulatory affairs |
| Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit | 20-22 October | Health systems, science, technology and investment |
| Arabian AI & Agentic Summit | 26 October | Enterprise AI and agentic systems |
For a technology company the October cluster is the practical entry point into the Abu Dhabi market: the AI Summit is where government and infrastructure buyers set out their plans, and the expo two days later is where suppliers show products. The health cluster of 19-22 October (DIA and the Future Health Summit) is the equivalent for pharmaceutical, clinical research and healthcare companies, and Global Food Week for food producers and agritech.
November and December 2026: ADIPEC, ICMM, IREIS, the Boat Show and the UN Water Conference
November holds the venue’s highest-profile annual events. ADIPEC returns on 2-5 November; the release describes it as the world’s largest energy event, attracting tens of thousands of professionals, and the 2025 edition set an attendance record of 70,000 visitors in a single day. The figures the organiser publishes on adipec.com for the show are 2,250 or more exhibiting companies, 239,000 or more exhibition attendees, 16,500 or more conference delegates, 1,800 or more speakers across 13 conference programmes, 54 participating national and international oil and energy companies, and USD 53 billion generated across 49,131 business deals.
| Event | Dates | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| ADIPEC | 2-5 November | Energy, oil and gas exhibition and conference |
| 46th ICMM World Congress of Military Medicine Abu Dhabi 2026 | 9-13 November | Military medical leaders, healthcare professionals and researchers |
| International Real Estate and Investment Show (IREIS) | 10-12 November | Property developers, brokers and investors |
| Revive ME 2026 | 11-12 November | Longevity and health-tech exhibition and conference |
| Jewellery & Watch Show Abu Dhabi | 11-15 November | 33rd edition, more than 110 regional and international brands (ADNEC event listing) |
| Tawdheef x Zaheb | 17-19 November | Emiratisation career festival with more than 100 companies |
| Abu Dhabi International Boat Show | 19-22 November | Marine lifestyle, boats, water sports; largest edition yet |
| 2026 UN Water Conference | 8-10 December | Global water governance, held in the UAE |
The Boat Show dates were confirmed by ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi’s own press release, which places the show in the venue’s Marina Hall on 19-22 November 2026, and the Jewellery & Watch Show dates by the venue’s event listing. The Media Office release gives the Jewellery & Watch Show dates with a typographical error, which is why we checked them separately. The 2026 UN Water Conference on 8-10 December is the second United Nations conference of the season; the release places it in the UAE without naming a hall. The December calendar in Dubai includes GITEX Global at Expo City on 8-11 December, so the two cities overlap in that week; the Dubai dates are in our article on Dubai’s events calendar for the rest of 2026.
ADNEC Centre Al Ain: the community venue’s second half
The Al Ain venue hosted school graduations and the fourth Al Ain Summer Sports through July until 19 August. Its second-half programme is retail, fashion and community events plus one large exhibition in November.
| Event | Dates | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Shamma Al Marar | 24-27 September | Fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands |
| Candle Light Concert | 25 September | Classical music concert |
| Sajaya Royal Fashion | 1-4 October | Fashion exhibition |
| Al Ain Bride Show | 28 October to 1 November | Bridal fashion, beauty and wellness |
| 2nd Al Ain International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition | 25-29 November | Hunting, equestrian and heritage exhibition |
The first Al Ain International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition in 2025 drew 116,617 visitors, a record for the venue, according to ADNEC Group’s 2025 results. The second edition on 25-29 November is the largest single event in the Al Ain programme.
What moved from the first half: the Book Fair, the UN Crime Congress and AI Everything
Three of the largest September and October events were originally scheduled for the spring. ADNEC’s first-half programme, published by the Abu Dhabi Media Office on 9 January 2026, listed the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair for 11-20 April, the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice for 25-30 April and AI Everything Abu Dhabi for 11-13 May, with the summit on 11 May and the exhibition on 12-13 May. The second-half programme now gives 13-18 September, 26 September to 1 October and 6-7 October respectively. The release does not comment on the reasons for the new dates. A similar shift took place in Dubai, where Arabian Travel Market moved from 4-7 May to 14-17 September. The practical effect is that the autumn calendar in both cities is denser than in a normal year, and the hotel market has reacted: a Khaleej Times check published on 6 September found displayed rates at hotels near Dubai World Trade Centre up by as much as 175% on exhibition dates, as set out in our article on Dubai hotel rates in September 2026.
ADNEC Group in numbers: AED 9.2 billion for the UAE economy in 2025
According to the results published by the Abu Dhabi Media Office on 6 July 2026, ADNEC Group contributed more than AED 9.2 billion to the UAE economy in 2025, an increase of 8% on 2024 and the highest figure in its history. The group’s business and leisure tourism activity generated more than 2.17 million hotel room nights and supported more than 70,000 jobs. Its venues, which include ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, ADNEC Centre Al Ain, ExCeL London and the Business Design Centre, hosted 1,149 events, up 15%, and 6.3 million visitors, up 17%. ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi hosted 77% of the conferences and 19% of the exhibitions that were held for the first time in the UAE and the Middle East that year. Capital Events, the group’s organising arm, ran the largest IDEX and NAVDEX, with 206,073 visitors, up 55% on the previous edition, and the fourth Make it in the Emirates, which grew 300% in size after moving to ADNEC. The second-half figure of 21% first-time exhibitions therefore continues a pattern already visible in 2025. Leisure attractions are part of the same picture: IAAPA Expo Middle East came to ADNEC in the first half, and the attractions industry’s own figures for the UAE are in our article on the UAE attractions industry.
What the second-half calendar means for companies
For a company that sells to the energy, technology, healthcare, food, real estate, marine or defence sectors, the ADNEC calendar is the shortlist of dates on which its buyers will be in Abu Dhabi. Three points follow from the programme.
First, the buying side is concentrated. ADIPEC brings 54 national and international energy companies and USD 53 billion in deals into four days; AI Everything puts government and infrastructure decision-makers in one hall on 6 October; IREIS on 10-12 November follows Abu Dhabi’s decision to open mortgages on off-plan homes. A foreign supplier that meets its customers at these events and then needs to sign contracts, invoice in AED and hire locally will normally need a UAE entity, and the choice between a mainland licence and a free zone licence depends on whether it will deal directly with government and mainland customers; the options are compared in our company setup service.
Second, staff movement is easier to plan. Exhibitors and visitors come on visit visas, but a company that keeps a representative in Abu Dhabi between the October and November events, or hires locally after a show, needs employment visas and residency, which are tied to the company’s licence; see work visa and residency. Tawdheef x Zaheb on 17-19 November is the recruiting event for companies with Emiratisation targets.
Third, the autumn is booked early. The September programme in Dubai has already pushed hotel rates near the exhibition district up by 86% on average, and the Abu Dhabi calendar from ADIPEC to the Boat Show runs for three consecutive weeks in November. Companies that exhibit at more than one event should book stands, hotels and travel for the whole season rather than event by event; for the AIM Congress in Dubai on 7-9 September, the last major investment event before the Abu Dhabi season, see our article on AIM Congress 2026.
Checklist for a company planning to exhibit or attend in Abu Dhabi in H2 2026
- Pick the cluster, not the event: technology on 6-7 and 26 October, health on 19-22 October, energy on 2-5 November, real estate on 10-12 November, marine on 19-22 November. One trip can cover several buyer groups.
- Register before the deadlines: the UN Crime Congress closes participant registration on 23 September 2026; ADIPEC and AI Everything sell visitor and delegate passes through the organisers’ sites.
- Check the venue for each event: the Boat Show is in the Marina Hall at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, the Al Ain Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition is in Al Ain, about 160 km from the capital, and the UN Water Conference’s hall is not named in the release.
- Book hotels for November as one block: ADIPEC (2-5), ICMM and IREIS (9-13), the Jewellery & Watch Show and Revive ME (11-15), Tawdheef (17-19) and the Boat Show (19-22) run almost back to back.
- Decide before the show whether you will need a UAE entity to sign contracts and invoice in AED, so that the licence and the corporate bank account are ready when the first order arrives, not three months later.
- Bring the documents that UAE counterparties ask for at a stand: company registration extract, authorised signatory’s passport, and a product catalogue with prices in AED or USD.
- If you plan to station staff in Abu Dhabi between events, budget for employment visas and Emirates ID rather than repeated visit visas.
How Atlant Capital can help
Companies that come to Abu Dhabi for ADIPEC, AI Everything, IREIS or the Boat Show and decide to stay need a legal base. Atlant Capital registers companies on the mainland and in the UAE free zones, including the choice of jurisdiction and business activities for energy services, technology, healthcare, trading, events and marine businesses; see company setup in the UAE. We open corporate bank accounts for new and existing companies (bank account opening) and handle work visas and residency for owners and staff who need to be in the UAE for longer than a visitor’s stay (work visa and residency). Accounting, VAT registration and corporate tax filing are provided by licensed accounting firms from our partner network.
Conclusion
ADNEC Group’s second-half programme of 6 September 2026 lists more than 290 events for ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi and ADNEC Centre Al Ain, with 21% of exhibitions and four international associations coming to the Middle East for the first time. The dates that matter for business are the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on 13-18 September, the UN Crime Congress from 26 September to 1 October, AI Everything Abu Dhabi on 6-7 October, Global Food Week on 6-8 October, the health cluster on 19-22 October, ADIPEC on 2-5 November, IREIS on 10-12 November, the Boat Show on 19-22 November and the UN Water Conference on 8-10 December. Three of the flagship events moved from the spring to the autumn, so the season is denser than usual. For a company selling into the UAE the calendar is a planning tool: choose the cluster, register early, book the November block as a whole, and have the licence and bank account in place before the first contract.
FAQ
How many events will ADNEC host in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in the second half of 2026?
ADNEC Group announced on 6 September 2026 that ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi and ADNEC Centre Al Ain will host more than 290 events in the second half of 2026. Of the exhibitions, 21% are held in the Middle East for the first time, and four international associations hold their events in the region for the first time. The first-half programme published in January 2026 had 192 events, 125 in Abu Dhabi and 67 in Al Ain, so the two venues are heading for more than 480 events in 2026.
When is ADIPEC 2026 and how big is it?
ADIPEC 2026 takes place at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi on 2-5 November 2026. ADNEC describes it as the world’s largest energy event, and the 2025 edition drew a record 70,000 visitors in a single day. The organiser’s published figures for the show are 2,250 or more exhibiting companies, 239,000 or more attendees, 16,500 or more conference delegates, 1,800 or more speakers, 54 national and international energy companies and USD 53 billion generated across 49,131 business deals.
Which major Abu Dhabi events were moved from spring to autumn 2026?
Three flagship events changed dates between ADNEC’s first-half programme of 9 January 2026 and its second-half programme of 6 September 2026. The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair moved from 11-20 April to 13-18 September, the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice from 25-30 April to 26 September to 1 October, and AI Everything Abu Dhabi from 11-13 May to 6-7 October. ADNEC did not comment on the reasons. In Dubai, Arabian Travel Market moved from May to 14-17 September.
Does a foreign company need a UAE entity to sell after exhibiting at ADNEC?
Exhibiting and visiting are possible on a visit visa without a local company. A UAE entity becomes necessary when the company wants to sign local contracts, invoice in AED, open a UAE corporate bank account or employ staff in the country, because employment visas are issued through a licensed company. The choice between a mainland licence and a free zone licence depends on whether the company will deal directly with government and mainland customers. The licence and the bank account typically take weeks, so companies that expect orders after a show should start before it.
