FINAL DRAFT IS OUR COMMUNITY-SCALE DESIGN FESTIVAL FOR ABU DHABI.
AND YES, IT’S STILL HAPPENING.

FINAL DRAFT
17. 18. April 2026

Two days of design / culture / creativity-focused sessions to collide good people, interesting perspectives and impact. Made to light up your brain in the best ways.

Numbers are small, conversations are close, spaces are intimate, it’s designed for depth not nonsense, strictly anti-hype and we’d love to have you there.

It’s free and it’s for you.

SCHEDULE

Here is the full Final Draft program for 2026 in all its awesomeness!
Registrations: Sessions with an * have limited space and require registrations.
Click the link inside the session description to register – it's first in first served.

Friday 17th

6.00 – 9.00pm
Current Situation Party
Join us for a low-key Final Draft opening. We're keeping things light with pizza and a plan to gather, chill, chat, and enjoy some mini design activations.

Saturday 18th

12.00 – 12.50pm
Slash Sessions*: The Impossible Spaghetti
In this workshop we will work towards the impossible: defining something that is simultaneously true and untrue. We will seek to ask the right questions, the ones that move us through this unsolvable journey; Providing the backdrop for a fun and informative workshop.
RSVP
1.00 – 1.50pm
Base Session: Adventures in AI
Everyone is using AI, the debates still running on its value and we're here to talk about our design approach to AI, what happens when it goes wrong and a live build session to put it to the test.
Fount Workshop*: Doll Lab
A messy but manageable creative sessions to excite your inner child and your actual child too if you want. Inspired by Alexander Girard's Vitra dolls, scrap wood and color.
RSVP
Sadu Workshop*: Craft in Action
An introductory Al Sadu weaving workshop, to learn the basics of traditional Emirati weaving through the process.
RSVP
2.00 – 2.50pm
Talk: Common Grounds
w/ Shaikha Al Ketbi
Visual artist Shaikha AlKetbi unpacks her 4 year mission in Japan, how it inspired her art, her work on the UAE Pavilion at the recent Expo in Osaka and what cross cultural creativity means in practice.
Sadu Workshop* (continued): Craft in Action
An introductory Al Sadu weaving workshop, to learn the basics of traditional Emirati weaving through the process.
RSVP
3.00 – 3.50pm
UncleNado's Listening Lounge
Exploring the connection between good music and good album cover design in a session for your ears and your eyes.
Slash Sessions*: Spill the Chai
Have you heard how they make it? The spices, the order, the debate about milk. Brewing karak has more to say about who we are than you'd think. This workshop is a space to listen, to brew, and to leave with something that stays longer than the taste.
RSVP
4.00 – 4.50pm
Talk: The Design/Making Battle
w/ Mohamed Dardiri
Bringing design to life off the screen and the link between designing something and then needing to actually make it.
Fabrica Workshop*: Block Print Workshop
w/ Muge
Make prints, print prints, admire your prints and just generally hang out making prints.
RSVP
5.00 – 5.50pm
Talk: Music meets Design
w/ Pho & Teenage Engineering
Behind the sound and design of Teenage Engineering, one of the worlds coolest audio brands. Brought to you by official mentor, Pho.
Fabrica Workshop*: Block Print Workshop
w/ Muge
Make prints, print prints, admire your prints and just generally hang out making prints
RSVP
6.00 – 6.30pm
BREAK
6.30 – 7.15pm
Talk: Is This Emirati?
w/ Saleh (La Petite)
A conversation on contemporary Emirati design, the culture that inspires it, the expression it takes and the magic you need to bring it to life.
7.20 – 8.00pm
Main Talk: The Long Way Home
w/ Nuno Abreu
A talk on building a contemporary design scene through scarcity, beauty, and the perspective gained from distance. Tracing the story through places like Japan and the Nordic countries, where restraint is not a style, but a philosophy, and tying it all back to Abu Dhabi.

Final Draft is an event by the Ripple Collective, a multidisciplinary design ecosystem based in Abu Dhabi.

Ripple Collective is made up of Slash, Fabrica, Fount, Central and Base.

The festival is inside our Studio and brings together the things we love most: good people, good design, good ideas and the potential impact of putting them all together.

You can learn more about us here: www.ripplecollective.ae