ITTF Foundation Opens Bids for 2028, 2029 World Table Tennis for Health Festival

The next World Table Tennis for Health Festival will not be decided by table count alone. With the ITTF Foundation opening bids for the 2028 and 2029 editions, host candidates now have to show they can handle a health-driven event built for about 300 players, plus the caregivers, coaches, researchers and community partners that travel with them.

The expression-of-interest process opened on April 15, 2026, with a May 31 deadline at 11:59 PM GMT+2 and a €250 fee. The Foundation is inviting table tennis clubs, associations, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s organisations, cities, municipalities, government entities and any legally registered organisation capable of hosting an international event. That wide eligibility list says plenty about where the movement is headed: the winning bid will need more than a strong local ping pong scene. It will need accessible venues, public-health credibility, and the ability to turn a tournament into a community event with real local support.

The festival has grown fast since its debut in Crete, Greece, from November 1 to 5, 2023. It was created in response to growing enthusiasm around the ITTF Parkinson’s World Table Tennis Championships in 2019 and 2021, then expanded into a broader format that includes the World Parkinson’s Table Tennis Championships, the World Alzheimer’s Table Tennis Championships and the World Table Tennis for Health Congress. The message from the Foundation is clear: this is competition, but it is also education, advocacy and social connection.

That scale has already been tested in Europe. The 2024 festival in Maizières-lès-Metz, France, drew 153 participants from 25 countries and territories and produced 954 matches, along with 18 expert speakers and 188 online registrations for the congress. In 2025, Helsingborg, Sweden, hosted a record 195 players with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s from 23 countries and territories, while the congress ran on November 28 and 29 and the program added a first-ever Parkinson’s Showcase Event alongside the ITTF European Para Championships. Ultimate Table Tennis has served as the main sponsor since 2024, giving the project a commercial backer as well as a social mission.

That history is why the 2028 and 2029 host search matters. The ITTF Foundation, founded in 2018 as the social responsibility arm of the International Table Tennis Federation, is no longer selling a concept. It is asking cities and organizations to step up for a festival that has already proven it can move from novelty to international fixture, and from a niche health initiative to a serious stop on the inclusive table tennis calendar.