There will be no F1 race in Saudi Arabia this year. Photo Credit: F1
Cancelled, postponed, rescheduled: these three words are becoming all too familiar within the events industry. The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has resulted in the closure of air space in the Middle East and continued travel disruption – and events are prioritising safety and wellbeing.
Formula 1 has confirmed the cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, which were slated to take place on 12 April and 19 April respectively, due to ongoing Middle East conflict.
Informa is one of the latest companies affected by the Middle East crisis; it recently announced that its Middle East Energy 2026 conference, due to take place from 16-18 April at Dubai World Trade Center, has been rescheduled, and will now run from 1-3 September.
UITP, the International Association of Public Transport, has cancelled its 2026 Summit in Dubai altogether. Originally scheduled for 21-23 April, the next edition of the Summit will now take place in Hamburg, Germany in 2027.
Other events have also been moved to the following year but will remain in the Middle East. These include one from IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, which was due to host the inaugural IAAPA Expo Middle East at the end of this month in Abu Dhabi. In a video update, IAAPA confirmed that the event will now take place in April 2027.
The inaugural M&I Expo, a global exhibition for the MICE industry, also taking place in Abu Dhabi, has moved to April 2027, having originally been scheduled to take place at ADNEC from 5-7 April.
In Oman, the 30th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair, due to run from 26 March to 5 April has been postponed to an as yet unannounced date.
On the sporting side, the World Endurance Championship has postponed its 2026 opening event, which was due to take place in Qatar on 28 March, to later in the year. The WEC season opener will instead unfold at Imola in Italy on 19 April. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has also postponed its Regional Symposium for Europe that was scheduled to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 18-19 March 2026. It said it is considering hosting a virtual version of the event.