Darb Al Saai lights up Ramadan evenings

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Ramadan settles into its second week over Doha in a rhythm that begins at sunset and carries deep into the night. Lanterns glow across Lusail as one of the season’s most elaborate tents opens for long, lingering iftars. At Darb Al Saai, families return to a place woven into their collective memory, where children run between games and performances echo past celebrations. Across the city, the evenings unfold in their own way, from shopping at DECC to farm stalls by the sea and neighborhood gatherings in Lusail. This week’s picks follow that movement between table, market and majlis, tracing how the city lives after dark during the holy month.

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Reve

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1. Leading the week: AlRazji

The Saudi Cultural Week in Qatar at Darb Al Saai in February, 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture)

Ramadan nights in Doha often return to places that carry memory, and few sites hold as much of it as Darb Al Saai. The AlRazji event, organized by the Ministry of Culture, returns for a seven-day run from Feb. 25 to March 3, welcoming visitors free of charge.

This season, the program leans into that familiarity without turning it into a reenactment. Framed as an initiative to revive Qatari heritage within a contemporary Ramadan setting, AlRazji brings together traditional performances, including poetry recitations, storytelling sessions and live demonstrations of time-honored crafts, alongside interactive experiences that introduce local customs to younger audiences.

Children move between traditional games and hands-on workshops, the kind that leave them carrying small crafts and larger excitement, while the main stage fills the air with performances that stretch late into the night.

The layout encourages wandering. One moment you are watching a competition; the next you are pulled toward a heritage activity that echoes school trips and National Day visits from years past. The event deliberately balances entertainment with an educational dimension, positioning itself as both a family evening destination and a platform for cultural transmission across generations. Parents recognize the setting from their own childhood outings, while younger visitors experience it as something immediate and new.

Spread across the expansive Darb Al Saai site, the traditional decor and Ramadan lighting turn the venue into a communal gathering space rather than a sequence of attractions, reinforcing the social rituals of the month as much as the performances themselves. AlRazji does not try to overwhelm. It works instead as an open-ended evening, where families arrive after iftar and stay for hours, moving at their own pace through a program built on continuity, participation and a shared sense of place.

Date: until March 3

Location: Darb Al Saai, Umm Salal

More details here.

2. Word on the street: Oumsiyah Ramadan tent

Oumsiyah Ramadan tent at Katara Hall. (Photo courtesy of Raffles Doha)

In Doha, Ramadan is as much about atmosphere as it is about gathering, and this year one of the most talked-about settings unfolds inside Katara Hall in Lusail. Conceived with the precision of a stage production and the warmth of a “majlis”  — a  traditional Arab gathering space — Oumsiyah turns the act of iftar and suhoor into a slow, immersive journey through light, texture and hospitality.

The vast hall is transformed by a palette that moves between midnight blue, desert sand and soft ivory, with sculpted lighting and mapped projections that shift gently across the space as the evening progresses. The scale is grand, yet the intention is intimate. Tables are arranged to encourage conversation, the decor draws on familiar regional motifs without slipping into nostalgia, and the rhythm of the night follows the quiet rise and fall that defines Ramadan in the Gulf.

Food here is part of the narrative rather than a standalone attraction. Live cooking stations bring together regional classics and contemporary interpretations, while the suhoor menu leans toward comfort and sharing. For those looking for a more secluded setting, the VIP Oasis offers a private enclave within the tent, complete with dedicated service and a calmer, more personal pace. 

What makes Oumsiyah resonate is not only its visual ambition but the way it reflects how the city experiences Ramadan today. It is rooted in tradition yet unmistakably modern, designed for long evenings that begin at sunset and stretch well past midnight, where families, friends and visitors move between the table and the glow of the space around them.

Date: throughout Ramadan

Location: Katara Hall, Raffles Doha

More details here.

3. Doha diary

Vehicles move along the road beneath light decorations bearing traditional greetings for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Katara Cultural Village in Doha early on Feb. 23, 2026. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP via Getty Images)

• Hayyi Ramadan Trade Fair

A more traditional shopping stop unfolds at the Hayyi Ramadan Trade Fair, where stalls bring together everyday essentials and gift items from more than 15 countries. Perfumes, abayas, carpets, accessories and home decor sit alongside food products, creating the feel of a classic seasonal market where browsing is part of the evening routine. The split schedule makes it accessible both before and after iftar, depending on how you plan your night.

Date: Until March 9

Location: DECC

More information here.

• Fareej Snoonu

Snoonu’s Ramadan village has opened its doors, bringing a lively neighborhood concept to Lusail. Children move between craft corners and storytelling sessions while the main stage hosts competitions and cultural performances throughout the evening. Food stalls, Arabic coffee and a small market of local brands give the space a festive rhythm that builds as the night goes on.

Date: throughout Ramadan

Location: Lusail Boulevard

More information here.

• Harvest Festival at Katara

Ramadan evenings at Katara take on a farm-to-table feel with the Harvest Festival, where local producers bring the season’s best directly to visitors. The event gathers dozens of Qatari farms, nurseries, and artisanal honey and date vendors in one space, turning a simple shopping trip into a celebration of national agriculture. The atmosphere is relaxed and family friendly, with lantern-lit walkways, the scent of fresh produce and opportunities to meet the people behind the products.

Date: until the end of Ramadan

Location: Southern Plaza, Katara

More information here.