With Porsche Centre Kuwait sharing the news of its return, Icons of Porsche 2026 is gearing up to bring the region’s Porsche community together in Dubai on 21st and 22nd November. The festival moves to a new home this year: The Square Nad Al Sheba, a lifestyle destination on Al Ain Road. It will run from 4 pm to 11 pm on both evenings.
The cars may be the first thing that catches your eye, but the festival is designed to keep visitors exploring. More than 1,000 Porsche models, from rare classics to the latest cars, are expected to tell the marque’s story across generations. The range itself invites a little wandering: a stop to admire the shape of an early 911, a closer look at the details of a modern sports car, then a turn toward the race cars that helped build Porsche’s motorsport reputation. This year, the festival will also mark 75 years of Porsche motorsport with a display of racing legends.
The automotive artwork at Icons of Porsche this year will offer visitors a new way to see the cars. The official programme promises Porsche-inspired work from artists around the world, with visitors able to explore how the marque’s shapes and history translate into creative expression. The festival’s mix of cars and art is part of what makes it feel different from a traditional motor show: the vehicles are central, but the surrounding ideas, people and atmosphere are part of the experience too.
There will be plenty to keep the energy moving beyond the displays. DJs and bands are set to perform, while the family programme will include games and entertainment. Food trucks from Dubai restaurants will bring a variety of cuisines to the site, giving visitors a reason to pause, meet up and make an evening of it. With the festival taking place at a destination that brings together dining, leisure and community activities, the new setting lends itself to a more relaxed, social kind of car gathering.
There is also an invitation to make the visit part of a bigger shared outing. Through the official “Invite and Win” campaign, visitors can invite family and friends for a chance to win prizes that include a trip to Germany for two, a stay in Stuttgart, a visit to the Porsche Museum and a Hockenheimring experience behind the wheel of a 911, including precision training at the Porsche Experience Centre.
The display also makes room for the cars people have chosen to bring themselves. The exhibitor information invites applications across a wide spread of models, from classic 356–996 generations and limited-production cars to GT models, later 911s and 718s. That owner-led element gives the festival a personal dimension: alongside the cars on display, visitors can encounter the individual histories and enthusiasm that have kept them on the road.
Previous editions have shown how the festival can move between Porsche’s past and what comes next. In 2022, it featured regional premieres of the 911 Dakar, 911 GT3 RS and 911 Sport Classic, alongside motorsport figures including Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Jacky Ickx. In 2024, the all-electric Macan and Taycan made their regional debuts; the following year, the new Cayenne Electric made its global debut at the festival. The 2026 programme has not announced a vehicle premiere, but its focus on 75 years of motorsport gives this year’s gathering a strong heritage thread.
KUWAIT: The Birthplace of Porsche’s Regional Passion
For Porsche in Kuwait, the festival’s celebration of Porsche heritage has a direct local resonance. the connection to Icons of Porsche runs much deeper than a local announcement. Long before Dubai’s skyline became synonymous with supercar meetups, Kuwait was laying the groundwork for the region’s obsession with Stuttgart’s finest engineering. Back in 1956, Kuwaiti entrepreneur Murad Behbehani imported a pristine Porsche 356 Cabriolet—making Kuwait the historic gateway as the very first country in the Middle East to import a Porsche sports car.
Today, that same legacy is kept alive by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, the largest Destination Porsche in the Middle East and Africa, which houses a collection of classic Porsche cars and a dedicated Heritage Service Centre.
That heritage can be seen at Porsche Centre Kuwait in Shuwaikh where dedicated classic service and restoration help keep historic cars on the road. The link between preservation and community feels especially at home at a festival built around generations of Porsche models, from the cars people drive today to the ones they have cared for across decades.
Kuwait’s story also has a contemporary expression in the 911 Turbo S Sadu Edition, unveiled to mark seven decades of Porsche in Kuwait. Limited to 20 cars exclusively for the Kuwaiti market, it brings local craft and heritage into conversation with Porsche design. It offers a distinctly Kuwaiti example of the cultural exchange that Icons of Porsche celebrates: a global marque shaped, over time, by the communities and places that make it their own.
Icons of Porsche’s community spirit has a home in Kuwait, too. Over the decades, the Porsche-Kuwait relationship grew into a community of local passionate owners and enthusiasts who continue to keep the marque’s history alive. The connection extends with Porsche Club Kuwait, which was established in 2003 and has grown around regular gatherings and events, including its own Porsche Club Festival and Concours d’Elegance.
Porsche Club Kuwait members attended Icons of Porsche in 2024, making Kuwait’s enthusiasts part of the festival’s regional story. As this year’s edition brings together cars from different eras and celebrates 75 years of Porsche motorsport, Kuwait’s long relationship with the marque offers a fitting local chapter.
That is the appeal of Icons of Porsche. It brings together people drawn by different things—the engineering, the history of racing, the design, the art or simply the pleasure of spending time among fellow enthusiasts. In Dubai this November, those interests will meet in one place, with Kuwait’s own long-running Porsche story forming part of the wider regional picture.
Icons of Porsche takes place on 21–22 November 2026, from 4 pm to 11 pm, at The Square Nad Al Sheba, Dubai. Tickets are AED 85; children under 12 can register for a free ticket when accompanied by a ticketed adult. For tickets and more information visit iconsofporsche.com.
