08 December 2025
Muharraq Nights Festival in Its Fourth Edition Presents a Diverse Program of Cultural and Interactive Tours
The fourth edition of the Muharraq Nights Festival presents a diverse program of cultural and interactive tours that introduce visitors to the city’s landmarks, architectural identity, and historical components, while highlighting the heritage of Muharraq. The tours offer a curated range of experiences organised within an integrated cultural route, combining engagement with local heritage and contemporary initiatives in the fields of arts, culture, and knowledge, and enabling audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the city’s urban and cultural development.
The program begins with a series of art-focused tours exploring the history of Muharraq through sketching, led by architects Judy Abi Rustom and Dina Abdullah. Participants move between multiple stations across three different routes to observe and document the city’s architectural and cultural characteristics. The program also includes the photography tour “Grain & Glow: Analogue Photography in Muharraq Nights” with artist Dania Radhi, which starts at Qal’at Bu Mahir, passes through the waterfront promenade and traditional alleys, and concludes at Siyadi complex, documenting Muharraq’s nocturnal scenes on film.
From the shores of Qal’at Bu Mahir, the “Nikon Shutter Tales” tour is led by a group of experts, enabling participants to acquire basic skills in camera use and image composition, in addition to introducing Nikon’s photography competition. Dr. Hesham Al Ammal also presents two additional photography tours: the first focuses on changes in light across Muharraq’s neighbourhoods, while the second explores the city’s historical relationship with the sea.
The program includes guided tours of the Pearling Path, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, highlighting the pearling era in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Additional tours include “100 Years Since the Tab’aa: Storm Tales”, which revisits the events of 1925, and “Maritime Tales: Between Fact and Mythology”, offering a narrative experience that blends history with oral heritage. The program also features the “Under the Spotlight” tour, which passes through ten selected historic shops to highlight the city’s commercial heritage and its place within Muharraq’s social fabric.
The program offers options for visitors interested in more active experiences, including cultural scooter tours in collaboration with Escooter Bahrain, cycling tours with Kashta Tours, and photography tours such as “Stories from Muharraq” with Manar Ebrahim and “Do Pearls Wander?” in partnership with Amana Creative Collective and supported by Fujifilm Bahrain. Additional activities include “Paint and Coffee in Muharraq” and “A Path of Tales” with Mariam Faqihi, which explores the transformations of the Pearling Path and its impact on the surrounding community.
The Bahrain Students Architecture Association participates with two tours, “Between the Dawaees: Courtyards and Families” and “Between the Dawaees: Continuity and Revival”, offering architectural and social perspectives on the city’s houses and neighbourhoods. Al Riwaq Art Space also organises tours connected to the “In the Lapse of the Tides” exhibitions, in addition to specialised literature tours and jewellery and design tours at the Pearl Museum – Siyadi Majlis.
Muharraq Nights Festival continues daily until 30 December, from Sunday to Wednesday between 5 PM and 10 PM, and from Thursday to Saturday between 5 PM and 12 AM, along the UNESCO-listed Pearling Path.
Details of tours and activities that require prior registration can be accessed through the festival’s daily program on the Pearling Path website www.pearlingpath.bh, and via social media @CultureBah and @pearlingpath.
