A glimpse of Maldives Expo 2026 before it closes

The necklace is a wearable take on thundu kunaa, the finely woven traditional mat. It was one of five entries that scored highest across this year's Maldives Expo, which closes on Monday.

Organised by the state-owned Business Center Corporation (BCC), the expo fills the park with seven districts, from a national exhibition of prize-winning work to a street of food stalls. It drew 4,434 product entries from 439 participants across 73 categories, according to the economic ministry. About three in four entries came from individual makers rather than businesses.

Judges handed out 290 awards to 130 winners at a ceremony at Barceló Nasandhura on 24 October, the evening before the expo opened. President Dr Mohamed Muizzu presented the five top awards.

A single walk through the park will not be enough to take in all of it. What follows is a glimpse, not a guide.

The winners are displayed at the National Exhibition of Creativity and Innovation. It rewards a slow walk.

Maldives Polytechnic, which took first place among educational institutions, shows Naashi Gas, a tree built from naashi – coconut shells – that took three weeks to make. Beside it is a 1:500 scale model of Villimalé.

WAMCO's hammerhead shark hangs illuminated, pieced together from fragments of glass. Its other piece is a moving sea: rows of wooden bars shift like waves while a miniature WAMCO boat crosses them.

The Prison Cooperative Society, which won first place among businesses, exhibits miniature old Maldivian homes in box-like displays and framed, illuminated scenes – one a setting sun as a boat comes ashore. At its stall in the creative economy district it sells artworks and wood products, all made by inmates enrolled in its rehabilitation training programme. Some of the paintings are made with coffee and an inmate paints with coffee live for visitors.

Dyevehi, a handmade tie-dye label, shows a large piece in ocean colours that maps the Maldives.

Work in the disabilities category – 254 entries this year – ranges from mini canvases to soft toys and large knitted pieces that echo liyelaa, the traditional lacquerwork. Many won awards. First place went to Fathimath Shafaq from Vilifushi in Thaa Atoll.

The creative economy district is for buying. Eveyla Collection sells stone carvings. An artisan carves new ones at the stall as visitors watch.

A stall run by traditional medicine practitioners sells Dhivehi beys – traditional remedies – and hands out free samples of roselle tea. At the Island Perfume Bar, visitors can have a scent made to order.

The Dhiraagu Gamers Guild has racing, fighting and FC27 stations, with a daily challenge leaderboard.

At the DhivehiGPT stall, visitors can talk to Haman, the character from Muhammad Rasoolallah, a locally dubbed Ramadan series. The AI version answers in Dhivehi in real time.

A hopscotch grid leads into the visitor economy district, where island experience stalls sit in warmly lit thatch huts.

Zipline Maldives is promoting its one-way zipline from Maafushi to Vahmaafushi. Island rooms books local island stays, speedboat transfers and excursions.

The marketplace is a single street of back-to-back stalls running the length of the park, where small businesses, artisans and food vendors sell to the evening crowds. Among the food trucks are a few that call themselves gaadiyas – Family Gaadiya is one – after the ones that once lined Usfasgandu in Malé.

The entertainment district features a Boduberu Challenge, a new traditional performing arts contest called Sagaafee Vaadha and a horror stall. 

The Maldives Authentic Crafts & Community Society (MACCS) sells hand-painted scarves, bags with thundu kunaa designs and rumaafalhi, the headpiece worn with the traditional Dhivehi libaas. It also sells box sets of handwoven kasabu and kinaari, lined and ready to be sewn onto a libaas.

At the same stall, visitors can try making thundu kunaa themselves – the craft behind one of the expo's five highest-scoring pieces. 

The five top-scoring entries and the first-place winner in each participant category, per the economic ministry.