The ninth edition of Madrid Design Festival 2026, organised by La Fábrica, transforms Madrid into a global hub for international design from 5 February to 8 March 2026. The festival strengthens its role as a leading platform that promotes design as a strategic tool for transforming systems, industries, and everyday life, connecting innovation, craftsmanship, economy, sustainability, and culture.
Madrid Design Festival, February 5-March 8, 2026
Madrid Design Festival is both for professionals and general public
Size: 55 exhibitions, 160+ events, 300 venues
Around 500,000 visitors
Visit MadridDesignFestival website for more info
Key highlights include the launch of FORMA Design Fair for collectible design
Discover Madrid Design Festival 2025
Madrid Design Festival 2025
Under the theme “Redesigning the World,” the Festival (MDF26) is structured around four key dimensions that define the value of contemporary design. Responsibility, addressing real social and environmental challenges. The Madrid Design Festival 2026 highlights are Transcendence – ensuring long-term impact on how we live and interact with our environments. Impact, demonstrating how design drives economic, urban, and social transformation. And Transmission, highlighting knowledge sharing between generations and the continuity of design culture and expertise.
Madrid Design Festival 2025
The MDF26 programme explores bio-design, biotechnology, sustainable materials, traceability, circular economy, mobility, and social innovation. Particular attention is given to community-based design and craftsmanship, understood as a meeting point between identity, heritage, material culture, and innovation. Featured participants include Patricia Urquiola, Héctor Serrano, Luca Nichetto, Studio Dumbar, Mesura Studio, and other leading voices in industrial, social, and material design.
Discover Casa Decor Madrid 2025
Madrid Design Festival 2025
According to festival director Álvaro Matías, design is not only part of Madrid’s identity but part of its nature. Over the years, the festival has positioned the city on the international design map, showcasing a dynamic creative ecosystem that continuously redefines urban life through multiple perspectives.
Alcova at Madrid Design Festival 2025, with the exhibition dedicated to Guatemala
Why visit Madrid Design Festival 2026?
Madrid Design Festival 2026 (5 February – 8 March) turns Madrid into one of Europe’s most dynamic destinations for design, innovation, and creativity. Visitors can explore more than 55 exhibitions, 160+ events, and nearly 300 locations across the city, experiencing everything from collectible design and contemporary craftsmanship to bio-design, sustainable materials, and circular economy solutions.
Key highlights include the launch of FORMA Design Fair for collectible design, major exhibitions such as the André Ricard retrospective, the Mediterranean Manifesto, and a special showcase of Guatemalan textile design. Open studios, design districts, talks by leading international designers, and city-wide installations make the festival an immersive way to discover emerging talent, global trends, and the future of sustainable living.
Discover Milan Design Week 2026
Exhibition Manifesto Mediterraneo, at theater Fernán Gómez
Visit to experience cutting-edge design, connect with the international creative scene, and see how design is transforming cities, culture, and everyday life – all within one of Europe’s most vibrant cultural capitals.
New for 2026: FORMA Design Fair
A major addition to this edition is FORMA Design Fair, the first Spanish fair dedicated to collectible design. Taking place from 4 to 8 March 2026, the fair creates a professional marketplace that strengthens the economic value of design, connecting designers, studios, galleries, brands, and collectors while positioning Madrid as a key destination for contemporary collectible design.
Curated by Antonio Luna and Emerio Arena, FORMA includes a professional programme titled (Per)FORMA and a curated selection of emerging and established players in the collectible design sector, reinforcing Madrid’s growing role in the global design market.
This initiative is organised by Madrid Design Festival, the Madrid City Council, Matadero Madrid, and DIMAD, with institutional support from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Industry, and Acción Cultural Española. Its goal is to create a sustainable creative economy ecosystem that benefits the city’s cultural and productive fabric.
Madrid Design Festival 2026: key highlights
The exhibition programme features major cultural projects hosted at Teatro Fernán Gómez from 5 February to 3 May 2026.
The retrospective “André Ricard. Design in Use” presents more than six decades of work by one of Spain’s most influential industrial designers, including iconic objects such as the Barcelona ’92 Olympic torch and the Copenhagen ashtray, illustrating the evolution of Spanish industrial design.
The collective exhibition Mediterranean Manifesto explores the material culture, environmental challenges, and sustainable future of the Mediterranean through works by more than thirty designers and artists focused on craft, material research, and ecological awareness.
Guatemala, the guest country of this edition, presents a major exhibition on contemporary textile design, highlighting traditional Maya weaving techniques such as backstrap loom, brocade, and embroidery as complex systems of design, identity, and cultural memory.
Textile art form Guatemala
Madrid Design PRO and professional network
The Madrid Design PRO programme gathers national and international experts to share methodologies, case studies, and innovation strategies. Topics include circular design, social design, bio-design, architecture, digital design, fashion, and alternative materials, strengthening collaboration between companies, institutions, and creative professionals.
Awards and Recognition
The Madrid Design Festival Awards honour excellence and international influence in design innovation. The 2026 recipients include Rosana Orlandi, Konstantin Grcic, and Juli Capella, recognised for their contributions to curation, industrial design, and design culture dissemination.
Diseñoesfera and the economic impact of design
Diseñoesfera acts as a strategic framework connecting business, institutions, and designers to foster innovation and economic development. Key initiatives include Design à Trois, collaborative meetings between companies and creatives; Viveros, a social training programme linking design with professional skills; and Redesign Madrid Industrial, which reactivates industrial areas through sustainable design strategies.
Madre series, by José Manuel Nuevo, exhibition Diseño e sfera
Alliance for Wool and material innovation
For the second year, the Alliance for Wool explores wool as a strategic material linking sustainability, biodiversity, craftsmanship, circular economy, and territorial identity, positioning natural fibres within contemporary material research and ecological design.
MINI Design Awards and urban innovation
The MINI Design Awards continue to support projects that rethink urban mobility, public space, and sustainable cities. The 2026 winners will be announced on 19 February, reinforcing the role of design as a driver of urban innovation.
Madrid Diseña: the city as a design platform
Madrid Diseña activates nearly 300 locations across the city through exhibitions, installations, workshops, open studios, and design routes, strengthening the local creative economy and connecting design with architecture, fashion, gastronomy, digital culture, and retail.
New additions include Chamberí as a design district and Infinito Delicias, a space dedicated to sustainable food, civic art, and social innovation. Major brands, cultural institutions, universities, and international showrooms contribute to a city-wide programme that turns Madrid into a living laboratory for design and innovation.
A growing global design ecosystem
With 59 institutions and brands, 55 exhibitions, 162 activities, and more than 800 professionals, Madrid Design Festival 2026 confirms its position as one of Europe’s leading design events. The launch of FORMA Design Fair, the expansion of Madrid Diseña, and strategic programmes like Diseñoesfera demonstrate a growing ecosystem capable of attracting talent, generating economic value, and strengthening Madrid’s international visibility.
The 2026 edition reinforces that “Redesigning the World” is not just a theme, but a shared commitment by institutions, designers, and citizens to place design at the centre of cultural, social, and economic transformation.
Madrid Design Festival, February 5-March 8, 2026
Madrid Design Festival is both for professionals and general public
Size: 55 exhibitions, 160+ events, 300 venues
Around 500,000 visitors
Visit MadridDesignFestival website for more info
Key highlights include the launch of FORMA Design Fair for collectible design
Some images from Madrid Design Festival 2025