Qatar has just revealed which countries will share the spotlight with it for the next half-decade, and the list reads like a Mediterranean hopscotch: Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain are all locked in as Years of Culture partners through 2030.
The scheme, launched in 2012 and now in its fifteenth edition, pairs Qatar with a different country (or two) each year for a rolling programme of exhibitions, festivals, artist residencies, book fairs, music and design collaborations. It has already worked through pairs like Argentina and Chile in 2025 and Canada and Mexico in 2026. Egypt and Greece take the baton in 2027, kicking off with Qatar as Guest of Honour at the Cairo International Book Fair in January that year.
The newly confirmed stretch gets interesting for travellers from 2028. Italy's year will lean on shared strengths in archaeology, fashion, design and heritage preservation — and it coincides with a genuine milestone: Qatar's permanent national pavilion in Venice's Giardini della Biennale, designed by architect Lina Ghotmeh. It will be the first new permanent pavilion built in the Giardini in three decades, and only the third in fifty years, so expect it to be a talking point at future Venice Biennales.
After Italy comes a joint 2029 year with the Netherlands and Switzerland, flagging innovation, diplomacy, design, humanitarianism and sustainability as themes. Then in 2030, Portugal and Spain — fitting, given the initiative's recent habit of pairing with former FIFA World Cup host nations.
Why does any of this matter if you're not a diplomat? Because these programmes translate into real, bookable experiences: pop-up exhibitions, food and music festivals, design shows and cultural events staged in both Qatar and the partner countries, often starting before the official year and running beyond it. If you've been putting off a Doha trip, timing one around a Year of Culture is an easy way to catch extra programming — the Museum of Islamic Art, the National Museum of Qatar and the events calendar in Katara Cultural Village all tend to be pulled into the action. For Europeans, it also means Qatar-themed events closer to home, from Venice onwards.
For anyone planning travel through the end of the decade, the calendar is now a useful frame: Cairo and Athens in 2027, Italy (plus that new Venice pavilion) in 2028, Amsterdam and the Swiss cities in 2029, Lisbon and Madrid in 2030. Doha News has the details.
