| Riyadh Season موسم الرياض | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Boulevard World in 2023 | |
| Begins | October |
| Ends | March |
| Location(s) | Riyadh |
| Country |  Saudi Arabia |
| Founded | 11 October 2019 |
| Activity | Entertainment andSports |
| Organized by | |
| Sponsors | |
| Part of | Saudi Seasons |
| Website | riyadhseason |
Riyadh Season (Arabic:موسم الرياض,romanized: mawsim ar-Riyāḍ) is a series of entertainment, cultural, and sporting events held in theSaudi Arabian capital ofRiyadh. The event was introduced in 2019 by theGeneral Entertainment Authority as part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative in support ofSaudi Vision 2030.
Riyadh Season is typically scheduled from October through March, falling between the early-winter and early-spring.
Riyadh Season involves seasonal events and experiences dispersed "zones" such as theBoulevard City,Boulevard World,Roshn Front,Al Malazz, andNational Museum Park districts.
Major events such as concerts, music festivals, and sporting events (particularlyfootball,boxing andmixed martial arts events) are promoted under the banner held at venues such asMohammed Abdo Arena andKingdom Arena.
Severaltourist attractions of the city are selected and are designated as entertainment zones.
Riyadh Season was introduced in 2019 as part of an initiative by theGeneral Entertainment Authority known as Saudi Seasons, a portfolio of 11 regional cultural festivals that aim to promotetourism in Saudi Arabia in support ofSaudi Vision 2030.[1][2]
The inaugural edition of Riyadh Season resulted in a sizable increase in tourism during the period; the General Entertainment Authority estimated that the events collectively generated six billionriyals in revenue,[3] there were at least 11 million visitors to the city during the 66-day period, a 106% increase in flight bookings to the city (71% of which coming from other parts of the country), and a 240% increase in bookings to one, two, and three-star hotels.[4]
Riyadh Season was not held in 2020–21 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
It returned for 2021–22, extended through March 2022.[5]
With COVID-19 restrictions eased, its opening ceremony (which featured a performance by American rapperPitbull) was attended by 750,000 people in the boulevard district.[6]
The 2022 opening ceremony set a record for the largest number of drones simultaneously launching fireworks.[7][8] At least five million visitors attended events in the first two months of the period.[9]
In October 2024, sports streaming serviceDAZN reached an agreement with the General Entertainment Authority making it the exclusive broadcaster of all Riyadh Season-sponsored events, including international distribution rights to all of itsboxing cards outside of theMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) region.[10]
The first edition of the festival was launched on 11 October 2019 and was set to end on 15 December, but it was extended to January 2020 after the number of visitors exceeded 10 million.[11]
In 17 October 2019, the opening parade of the first edition of Riyadh Season was held in Riyadh Boulevard zone with an attendance of more than 600,000 visitors.[12]
It included 100 events that took place at 12 different zones, and was hosted under seven themes and experiences: Joy, inspire, taste, explore, fantasy, speed and desert.[13]
The Taste theme originated in accordance with opening 31 restaurant from different cuisines all across the following zones:[13]
The second edition of Riyadh Season was launched on 20 October 2021 and lasted until the end of March 2022.
It lies in an area measuring 5.4 million square meters in which it hosts more than 7,000 events at 14 different zones.[5]
The third edition of Riyadh Season was launched on 21 October 2022 and lasted until March 2023.
This included 8,500 activity days. This season had a principal of 15 zones in theRiyadh Boulevard and represented many cultures such as:
The 2022 Riyadh Season also included 2023 Riyadh Season Cup, a friendly football match betweenParis Saint-Germain (PSG) and Riyadh XI (combinedAl Hilal andAl Nassr all-star team) held atKing Fahd International Stadium on 19 January 2023.
The game received global attention as the game pittedLionel Messi andCristiano Ronaldo, two of the greatest football players in the world and the subject ofintense debate, directly against each other for the first time since 2020, as Messi played for PSG and Ronaldo joined Al Nassr days prior to the friendly match.
PSG won the match 5–4.
The fourth edition of Riyadh Season launched on 28 October 2023 with new identity and tagline ("Big Time") and title sponsorship fromSNB.
The opener event,Battle of Baddest, featuringTyson Fury andFrancis Ngannou, was held at Boulevard Hall on the same day.
This year's Riyadh Season was marked with the addition ofBoulevard Hall (named Kingdom Arena for sponsorship reasons), an indoor arena with aFIFA andAFC-approved football pitch capable of hosting various types of events with more than 40,000 spectators in attendance (27,000 for football matches). It was fully opened in January 2024 and serves as the new home ground ofAl Hilal
The following events took place as part of 2023 Riyadh Season:
There are 12 Zones in Riyadh Season 2023:[19]
The fifth edition of Riyadh Season launched on October 12th.
The following events took place as part of 2024 Riyadh Season: