Babylon: Babylon Foundation has begun its preparations to hold the thirteenth Babylon Festival of World Cultures, from October 9 to 16, 2026, with a large Iraqi, Arab, and international cultural and artistic participation, under the patronage of Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi. Poet Ali al-Shalah told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “distinguished invitations have been extended to writers, artists, researchers, musicians, visual artists, and a large number of publishing houses to participate in this edition.”

According to Iraqi News Agency, the festival will honor a number of Iraqi cultural figures as part of the centennial celebrations of Iraqi pioneers: Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, Abdul Wahab al-Bayati, Buland al-Haidari, Mustafa Jamal al-Din, and Hussein Ali Mahfouz, in addition to the late Babylon poet Muwaffaq Muhammad.