Dubai: A Dubai-born events platform that has brought some of the region’s biggest music acts to UAE stages is planning to expand to 25 cities worldwide over the next two years.
HOP Events, founded by Dubai-based entrepreneur Kalpesh Kinariwala, said it plans to stage more than 250 events annually across 75 venues and arenas, with a target audience of more than one million people a year.
The expansion will include London, New York, Doha and Singapore, alongside Dubai, as HOP looks to build an international events business from its UAE base.
The company has already staged concerts featuring A.R. Rahman, Arijit Singh, Lucky Ali, Nancy Ajram, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and sitarist Rishab Sharma, drawing audiences from across the UAE and the wider region.
But Kinariwala said the next phase would go beyond large concerts, with HOP expanding into storytelling, art and other cultural formats.
“Our goal has never been to build an events company,” he said. “We’re building a platform where culture becomes a catalyst for connection.”
The plans were outlined following a recent gathering in Dubai featuring storyteller Laksh Maheshwari.
HOP is the cultural arm of PANTHEON ACR, Kinariwala’s Dubai-based venture spanning art, culture and real estate.
Kinariwala said the idea is to use Dubai’s position as a meeting point for different nationalities and cultures as the foundation for taking the model overseas.
“The moments people carry with them for years are rarely the biggest,” he said. “They are the moments that make us feel connected, inspired, understood or part of something larger than ourselves.”
HOP said its expansion over the next 24 months will include both established international performers and emerging creative talent, with programming ranging from major concerts to storytelling and cultural experiences.