Riyadh Season

Entertainment festival held annually in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Riyadh Season

موسم الرياض

Boulevard World in 2023

Begins| October
Ends| March
Location(s)| Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Country|  Saudi Arabia
Founded| 11 October 2019
Activity| Entertainment and Sports
Organized by|

* General Entertainment Authority
* National Events Center

Sponsors|

* SNB
* STC
* Saudia

Part of| Saudi Seasons
Website| riyadhseason.com

The Riyadh Season (Arabic: موسم الرياض, romanized: mawsim ar-Riyāḍ) is an annual state-funded entertainment and sports festival, started as part of 11 entertainment festivals carried by Saudi Seasons initiative that was launched in 2019.[1] Riyadh Season starts in October and ends towards March during winter and spring in the Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh. In 2022, Riyadh Season attracted more than 5 million visitors within the first two months of its third edition.[2] As of 2023, Riyadh Season has 10 Guinness World Records certifications.[3][4]

Riyadh Season was first unveiled by the General Entertainment Authority in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030 in October 2019,[5][6] the festival brought sports and entertainment themes in Riyadh.[7][8][9]

According to the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, the government generated 6 billion Saudi Riyals in revenues from the first edition of the festival in 2019.[10] After maximizing the capacity in the second edition in 2021, the opening ceremony of the festival was attended by 750,000 people in the boulevard district, which included a parade, fireworks and a concert by Pitbull.[11] In 2022, the opening ceremony of Riyadh Season was rewarded a Guinness Record certificate for "The most remote-operated multirotors/drones launching fireworks simultaneously".[12]

## Riyadh Season 2019[edit]

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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] The Taste theme originated in accordance with opening 31 restaurant from different cuisines all across the following zones:[15]

1. Riyadh Boulevard
2. Riyadh Front
3. Riyadh Car Exhibition
4. Riyadh Winter Wonderland
5. Riyadh Sports Arenas
6. Diplomatic Quarters
7. Al-Murabaa
8. Al-Malazz
9. Wadi Namar
10. Riyadh Beat
11. Riyadh Safari
12. Riyadh Sahara

## Riyadh Season 2021[edit]

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.[16]

1. Riyadh Boulevard
2. VIA Riyadh
3. Combat Field
4. Riyadh Winter Wonderland
5. Riyadh Front
6. Al-Murabaa
7. Riyadh Safari
8. Al-Athriyah
9. Riyadh Oasis
10. The Groves
11. Nabd al-Riyadh
12. Zaman Village
13. al-Salam Tree
14. Khalooha

## Riyadh Season 2022[edit]

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 the Riyadh Boulevard and represented many cultures such as:

1. America
2. France
3. Greece
4. Italy
5. India
6. China
7. Spain
8. Morocco
9. Mexico.

The 2022 Riyadh Season also included Riyadh Season Cup, a friendly football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Riyadh XI (combined Al Hilal and Al Nassr all-star team) held at King Fahd International Stadium on 19 January 2023. The game received global attention as the game pitted Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the greatest football players in the world and the subject of intense 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.

## Riyadh Season 2023[edit]

The fourth edition of Riyadh Season launched on 28 October 2023 with new identity and tagline ("Big Time") and title sponsorship from SNB. The opener event, Battle of Baddest, featuring Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, was held at Boulevard Hall on the same day.

This year's Riyadh Season was marked with the addition of Boulevard Hall (named Kingdom Arena for sponsorship reasons), an indoor arena with a FIFA and AFC-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 of Al Hilal.

The following events took place as part of 2023 Riyadh Season:

* On 28 October 2023, the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou heavyweight boxing fight was held in Kingdom Arena to kick off the Riyadh Season.
* On 4 November 2023, WWE Crown Jewel 2023 was held in Mohammed Abdu Arena.
* On 17 November 2023, If Y'all Weren't Here, I'd Be Crying Tour by American rapper Post Malone will be held in Boulevard Hall (Kingdom Arena).
* Soundstorm Festival by MDLBEAST was held between 14–16 December 2023.
* On 23 December 2023, a boxing event billed as the Day of Reckoning, featuring Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin, Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker, and Dmitry Bivol vs Lyndon Arthur was held at the Kingdom Arena.
* On 26–27 December 2023, the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup, featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka, was held at the Kingdom Arena.
* On 10–14 January 2024, the 2023–24 Supercopa de España featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Osasuna, was held at the KSU Stadium (Riyadh).
* On 21–25 January 2024, the 2023 Supercoppa Italiana featuring Napoli, Inter Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, was held at the KSU Stadium (Riyadh).
* The Riyadh Season Cup football tournament featuring Al Hilal, Al Nassr and Inter Miami, in a single-round robin group, where the table toppers were crowned champions. The matches between Inter Miami and Al Hilal, Al Nassr vs Inter Miami and Al Hilal vs Al Nassr was held on 29 January, 1 February and 8 February 2023 respectively.[17][18] All three of these clubs signed well-known world-class players in 2023, with Paris Saint-Germain players Lionel Messi and Neymar transferring to Inter Miami and Al Hilal, respectively, while Cristiano Ronaldo transferred from Manchester United to Al Nassr. Due to Messi and Ronaldo both being 36 and 38 years old respectively, it is likely the last time the two will play against each other in a match, leading many to dub it "The Last Dance".
* On 24 February 2024, the PFL vs. Bellator Champions mixed martial arts event was held at the Kingdom Arena.
* On 4–6 March 2024, the first professional Snooker tournament was held in Boulevard City. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Masters of Snooker title.
* On 8 March 2024, the Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou boxing fight was held at the Kingdom Arena.
* Riyadh Season secured front-of-shirt sponsorship with Serie A club AS Roma, worth €8 million per year, to promote its series of events and Saudi tourism globally.
* On 18 May 2024, the Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk boxing fight was held at the Kingdom Arena.

### Zones[edit]

There are 12 Zones in Riyadh Season 2023:[19]

* 1\. Boulevard World
* 2\. Boulevard City
* 3\. Kingdom Arena (Boulevard Hall)
* 4\. Ramla Terraza
* 5\. VIA Riyadh
* 6\. Wonder Garden
* 7\. Food Truck Park
* 8\. Riyadh Zoo
* 9\. Roshn Front
* 10\. The Groves
* 11\. Souq Al Awaleen
* 12\. Suwaidi Park

## See also[edit]

* Black Hat Middle East and Africa, a cybersecurity and hacking convention that is annually held during Riyadh Season

## References[edit]

1. ^ Bridge, Sam (29 January 2020). "Revealed: the impact of Riyadh Season on Saudi tourism". Arabian Business. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
2. ^ "Riyadh Season Visitors Hit 5Mln Within First Five Weeks". Asharq Al-Awsat. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
3. ^ "Guinness World Records - Riyadh Season".
4. ^ "Riyadh Season 2022 set a whopping 10 Guinness World Records".
5. ^ Wilson, Josh. "Saudi Arabia To Invest $64 Billion In Its Entertainment Sector". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
6. ^ "Quality of Life". Vision 2030. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
7. ^ "Riyadh Season kicks off with a bang as WWE Crown Jewel returns to Saudi Arabia". Arab News. 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
8. ^ "Al-Murabba welcomes visitors with music, food and more for Riyadh Season". Arab News. 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
9. ^ "BTS: K-pop band perform in Saudi Arabia despite criticism". BBC News. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
10. ^ "Saudi Arabia's Entertainment Blowout is Twice as Big This Year". Bloomberg.com. 21 October 2021.
11. ^ "Pitbull brings the party to Riyadh Season's glittering opening ceremony". The National. 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
12. ^ "Riyadh Season 2022 opening ceremony wins Guinness World Record".
13. ^ Al Shurafa, Sara, ed. (9 October 2019). "Saudi Arabia: All you need to know about Riyadh Season". Gulf News. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
14. ^ Gillett, Katy (19 October 2019). "Tamer Hosny, Nancy Ajram and DJ Carnage: Riyadh Season Boulevard opening weekend proves a huge success". The National. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
15. ^ a b "Saudi Arabia: All you need to know about Riyadh Season". Gulf News. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
16. ^ "Riyadh Season 2021 kicks off in Saudi Arabia's capital". Al Arabiya English. 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
17. ^ Guyett, Matthew (2023-11-21). ""One last dance", "Battle of the GOATS" - Fans react as Lionel Messi's Inter Miami are set to clash with Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr next year". Sports Keeda. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
18. ^ "Riyadh Season Cup 2024: Teams involved, dates and how it works". 90min. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
19. ^ "Riyadh Season". Riyadh Season. 2023-11-01. Retrieved 2023-11-01.