January: The year swoops into action with the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, held from Jan 3-8 at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. Then there’s the Asian Cup, which will be in town from Jan 7-29, and is sure to get a lot of attention internationally considering Qatar’s newly acquired World Cup status. Add to that the city’s first ever Motor Show, from Jan 26-29, and you’re in for a pretty busy month. You’ll also get to see Seth Rogen as a superhero in movie release The Green Hornet, and Wikipedia is 10 years old.

February: What do we find in the most romantic month of the year? Well, Feb 3-6 will see the Qatar Commericalbank Masters take place at Doha Golf Club, while foodies will have both the Doha Food Festival (Feb 23-26) and potentially the Sharq Village & Spa’s Goodlife Festival (date tbc) to look forward to. For those who like their bling, the 8th Doha Jewellery & Watch Exhibition will take place (Feb 15-20), which if you were headed to the Oscars you might find something perfect for – that takes place in February, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Doha Players will be putting on a new play, and expect there to be lots of talk about cricket, with the Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka starting on Feb 15. The end of the month will see ex-Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher’s new band, Beady Eye, release their first album.

March: In addition to the second Qatar Marine Festival (Mar 16-26), we also know that the IWED Wedding Exhibition will be back from Mar 3-6. But if you feel like a change of scenery, might we suggest heading to Bahrain, where the new Formula 1 season begins a few days later (Mar 11-13)? Not only would you be able to see the race, but there is lots of support entertainment, with parties and concerts. But be back in Qatar for Mar 20 – that’s the date when the Moto GP bike racing event takes place. On Mar 14 the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Literature will be announced in Abu Dhabi.

April: Doha shows its responsible side from Apr 1-3 by hosting the Environmental Festival, with organisers Qatar Petroleum educating visitors on all things green. And expect any British expats to get a little teary-eyed and be glued to their TVs – it’s Apr 29 when second in line to the throne Prince William ties the knot with long term girlfriend Kate Middleton at London’s Westminster Abbey.

May: We expect it to be around this time that superstar chef Gordon Ramsay will open his latest Doha restaurant at the new St Regis Hotel. The Ritz-Carlton’s annual Festival of the Senses will also be tickling our taste buds, the Dunestock open air concert will take place, and the first graduating class will emerge from Northwestern University in Qatar. On TV, Steve Carell will make his final appearance in the US version of The Office, and after 10 years actor Tom Welling will don the Superman costume in the last episode of Smallville.

June-July-August: The summer can be a scary time in Doha, with much of the city clearing out to escape the heat. We’re assuming the cooling technology for the World Cup stadiums won’t be up and running by then, so check out the summer’s biggest films instead – The Hangover 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and Mission: Impossible 4 will be out, along with Kung-Fu Panda 2, Fast Five, Cars 2 and Green Lantern. Then we’ve got Transformers 3, the last Harry Potter, Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs. Doha Summer Fun Park will be back at the Exhibition Centre if you want to take cover elsewhere, and on Aug 4 why not join US president Barack Obama in celebrating his 50th birthday? There will also be a chance to grab some shade in the nearest Iftar tent, with Ramadan starting around Aug 1.

September: Traditionally the month when all the kids go back to school, and we’re going to be feeling a bit childish ourselves, seeing as the International Toys Exhibition will be taking place in Doha from Sep 25-27. But that’s if we can make it – the Rugby World Cup will be keeping us glued to our TVs from Sep 9 until Oct 23 when that gets under way in New Zealand. Oprah Winfrey will also broadcast the last edition of her chat show after 25 years.

October: We’ll be gearing up for Halloween and Breast Cancer Month about now, looking forward to taking part in Think Pink Qatar’s charity walk along the Corniche once again. Qatar Bike Week will return, as hopefully will another musical from Centre Stage. The women’s tennis won’t be back, however, having moved to Istanbul, but we will have plenty of famous visitors still thanks to the Doha Tribeca Film Festival – no doubt even more impressive than the year before.

November: For the last two years, this month has seen a high profile football match take place in the city. No doubt there will be something else to get us excited in time for the next Aspire4Sport event. We’re pretty sure The Clash! will be back in force too – Doha’s annual battle of the bands competition always creates a buzz.

December: Qatar will play host this month to the 12th Pan Arab Games, with a number of countries from around the region competing in 33 different sports. The International Book Fair will take place from Dec 13-23, and hopefully in the run-up to Christmas we’ll have a new pantomime from Doha Players to look forward to. Steven Spielberg’s TinTin is sure to be pulling in the crowds at cinemas, and US troops will pull out of Iraq – the deadline is Dec 31.