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Three days, eight pitches, seven competitions and four music stages on one site. The international sevens plays out on Pitch 1 while several thousand club players compete a hundred metres away, and the whole thing runs as a festival around both.
A sports festival that happens to open the world series
The Emirates Dubai 7s has run since 1999 as the opening round of the HSBC SVNS series. For most people it is a social catch-up whilst enjoying sport for what it is — an all-encompassing weekend that welcomes players of every level and every sports fan, not just the rugby crowd.
3
Days of competition
7
Sports running at once
4
Music stages
Who runs it
HSBC is the Title Partner of the global HSBC SVNS series, while Emirates is the Title Sponsor of the Emirates Dubai 7s event, staged at The Sevens Stadium.
Where it sits in the season
Dubai starts the 2026/27 HSBC SVNS calendar. The international matches run on the Saturday and Sunday, with the finals played under lights on Sunday evening.
Why the site is unusual
Most world series rounds are a single stadium with one pitch. Dubai has eight, so the elite tournament and a mass participation one share a weekend and a crowd.
The Friday
Friday 27 November is Family Friday. The invitational draws, netball, cricket, padel and Gaelic football all start, with events for kids like face painting and more.
The scale of entry
The invitational rugby alone carries 17 divisions across international and GCC categories, from Invitational and Open down to Vets, Social and U19.
What it is for most people
A three-day meeting point. Groups book the same patch of grass every year and treat the sport as the backdrop to a weekend with people they rarely all see.
What makes Dubai different
Clubs, schools and international sides play the same weekend
This is the part that is specific to Dubai, and it is the reason teams travel here from every continent.
Invitational rugby, The Sevens Stadium
The world stage runs on the same grass
On Pitch 1, national squads play for series points in front of a full grandstand.
On the fields behind it, club sides, school teams, veterans sides, university squads and
touring teams play their own draws across the same three days.
A social side from Kampala or Krakow warms up while an international match is on
the big screen above them. Players finish their own game, walk round to Pitch 1 and
watch the sport they have just played at the top of it. Very few tournaments in any
sport put those two things inside one fence.
And it is not only rugby. The netball courts, the cricket ovals, the padel courts and
the fitness floor all run at the same time, on the same ticket. Whatever sport you follow,
there is something live in front of you all weekend, which is what makes this an event for
every sports fan rather than a rugby crowd with a festival attached.
Sport on site
Seven competitions, three days, one ticket
Every competition below runs concurrently. A general entry ticket reaches all of them.
The elite series. Dubai has opened the world sevens season since 1999, and the 2026 event starts the 2026/27 HSBC SVNS calendar.
The world’s best men’s and women’s national teams play for series points on the main pitch, Pitch 1, with the finals played on the main pitch under lights on Sunday night. It is the only closed field of national teams on site, and it runs alongside everything else, sharing the same crowd and the same ticket.
Series openerMen’s and women’s drawsFinals on the main pitch
The largest mass participation rugby sevens tournament in the world, with 17 divisions of play.
Club sides, vets teams, schoolboys, social squads and university teams enter from every continent and play out across the eight fields of The Sevens Stadium. Divisions run from International Invitational Men and Women through Vets, Social, U19 and the GCC leagues, so a side finds a level that fits.
17 divisions8 fields3 days of pool and knockout
Five divisions across a four-court zone with its own stage and crowd.
The netball zone runs as a festival inside the festival, with music and entertainment built around the courts. Sides travel in from across the region and further afield, and the standard spreads wide enough that social teams and serious ones both get competitive games.
5 divisions4 courtsEntertainment programme
Short-format cricket on the stadium’s own ovals, open to men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
The seven-a-side format keeps games short and results quick, which suits a festival timetable. Competitive and social entries run in separate competitions, so a social side and a league side are not drawn together.
Men’s, women’s, mixedSocial and competitiveFull-size ovals
Padel courts built into the middle of the festival site, running since 2023.
Five courts sit in the heart of the festival site, so matches are played in front of passing crowds. Entry is open to players across the UAE and visiting teams at a range of levels.
5 courtsRunning since 2023Open entry
Brand new for 2026: the festival’s first Gaelic Football tournament.
A first for the Emirates Dubai 7s, adding another sport to a site that already runs seven at once. Open entry, played across all three days alongside everything else on the same ticket.
Fifth year of the festival’s own fitness competition, on mixed teams of four.
Teams of two men and two women work through a series of strength and fitness workouts across the weekend, staged on Pitch 3 in full view of the crowd in front of the crowd.
Fifth editionTeams of 4Pitch 3
Source: emiratesdubai7s.com event, sport, music, kids and travel pages, retrieved 18 Aug 2026. Figures are the organiser’s own.
Music
Four stages, three nights
The music programme runs through the day and takes over once the sport finishes. All four stages sit inside the same site and run on the same ticket.
Headliner stage · Pitch 8 · after dark
Frequency on 8
The night stage. Once the day’s sport finishes, the crowd and a good number of the players walk over to Pitch 8 for the headline sets. Sean Paul and Shaggy played it on the Saturday of the 2025 edition, FISHER on the Sunday.
Raised outdoor bar overlooking Pitch 1
Beats on 2
A raised open-air bar with the HSBC SVNS matches in view below, which makes it one of the few places anywhere to watch international sevens with a DJ set running behind you. Tinie Tempah and DJ EZ headlined here in 2025.
Tribute bands · all weekend
Rugby Rocks
The long-running singalong stage, tribute acts through the afternoon and evening. It is the stage families and mixed groups tend to settle at, because the set list is familiar and the volume sits below the night stage.
Hops market stage · all weekend
BrewFest
A hub stage set among the drinks and food vendors, running local and international tribute acts. Close enough to the pitches that a group can drift between a match and a set.
2026 line-up
To be announced. The names above are the 2025 headliners, listed to show the level the
stages book at. Past editions have brought Sean Paul, Shaggy, FISHER, Tinie Tempah and
DJ EZ to the site.
Off the pitch
Designed for all ages to enjoy together or separately
An all-round family weekend suitable for everyone. Children can move between the zones under supervision while the adults stay put, or the whole group can do the day together — the site works either way, which is why families keep rebooking.
Outdoor kids’ zone
Three zones, running 10am to 6pm
The Soft Play Tent covers ages 0 to 3, with a ball pit, a 30m soft play area,
arts and crafts, face painting and buggy storage.
The Outdoor Kids’ Zone runs 4 to 16 and holds a giant inflatable slide, bungee
trampolines, an arcade tent, creative workshops from candle making to tote bag
painting, a VR activation and the largest inflatable the festival has built.
From 6pm to 9pm the outdoor cinema takes over, family films on a large screen with
headphones and beanbags provided, which buys parents three more hours.
Food and drink
Food and drink vendors across the site, from Pickl and Wingstop to Vietnamese Foodies, Mattar and L’Entrecote. Enough range that a mixed group all find something they want.
Entertainment between matches
On-pitch entertainment fills the gaps in the schedule, and DJs run across the site from lunchtime onwards, so the atmosphere builds through the day.
The zipline
New for 2026. A 190m zipline running the length of the site, with a view over the pitches on the way down.
Getting there
The Sevens Stadium is on the Dubai to Al Ain road, roughly 30 minutes from Downtown outside peak traffic. Event parking and shuttle routes operate all three days.
Timings
Gates open at 7am and VIP opens at 9am. The site then runs until the headline set finishes, and the Sunday closes with the HSBC SVNS finals followed by the last night of music.
Accessibility
The Emirates Dubai 7s venue provides wheelchair-accessible facilities, including level pathways, dedicated viewing areas, and accessible toilets across key zones like the Cricket Ovals and festival areas.
Source: emiratesdubai7s.com event, sport, music, kids and travel pages, retrieved 18 Aug 2026. Figures are the organiser’s own.
The weekend in two minutes
Watch the site fill up
ES Sport footage, Emirates Dubai 7s
Two ways to book
Travelling as a team, or coming to watch
Spectator packages
Four ways in, from general entry through reserved seating to the two
hospitality lounges, with hotel and transfers attached. Priced side by side so
you can see all four together.
For squads entering any of the seven competitions. Hotels, coaches, visas,
registrations and airport meet and greet, built around what your team needs
and what your budget allows.
Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November 2026 at The Sevens Stadium, on the Dubai to Al Ain road. The HSBC SVNS international matches are played on the Saturday and Sunday, with the invitational tournaments running across all three days.
No. Four music stages, food and drink vendors across the site, three children’s zones and an outdoor cinema all run on the same site and the same ticket. Netball, cricket, padel and the fitness competition run alongside the rugby, so there is something for every sports fan. Plenty of groups spend the weekend there and watch very little of the rugby.
Yes. General entry reaches the unreserved areas around Pitch 1 as well as every other field. Reserved seating and the hospitality packages guarantee you a specific seat with a specific view.
Yes. The kids’ zones run 10am to 6pm and cover ages 0 to 16 across three areas, and the outdoor cinema runs 6pm to 9pm. Friday is programmed as Family Friday with events for kids like face painting and more. Check the organiser’s current age policy for entry.
Yes. The Emirates Dubai 7s venue provides wheelchair-accessible facilities, including level pathways, dedicated viewing areas and accessible toilets across key zones such as the Cricket Ovals and the festival areas. If anyone in your group has specific access requirements, tell us when you enquire and we will confirm the arrangements with the organiser before you travel.
ES Sport sells spectator packages that combine entry with hotel and transfers. Choose a package on the spectator page and send an enquiry, and the team will come back with availability and the current price.
Fill out our RFI form. We can custom-make our packages to be bespoke to your requirements.
Tell us whether you are coming to watch or bringing a team, the headcount and the dates. Availability, hotels and a per-person figure back within one working day.
