Diriyah Season 2023: your ultimate guide
The season kicks off this weekend…
Diriyah Season is an annual culture-focused festival that brings the birthplace of the Kingdom to life through a variety of exciting and engaging events and experiences. Just last night, the major festival announced a series of events, locations, and more. Here’s your ultimate Diriyah Season 2023 guide to all the happenings.
Theme
The theme for this year’s festival will be ‘Entertain Your Cultural Curiosity,’ where visitors are invited to explore Diriyah’s origin story and celebrate the heritage of the country.
Main areas
There will be five main locations where the festival will be held. The event will include more than 20 cultural and artistic programs, featuring more than 100 cultural events and activations. The areas include the At-Turaif Historic District, Bujairi Terrace, Diriyah District, Wadi Safar, and Mayadeen Theatre.
Events
During the month of December, we’re looking forward to an exhibition of works by one of the leading architects of the twentieth century, the Hassan Fathy Exhibition, a 60@Sixty exhibition showcasing a rare glimpse of 60 objects from the collection of Saudi artefacts, and Bujairi Terrace’s Bujairi ‘Always On,’ where you can catch everything from live performances to themed storytelling, art and craft workshops, and immersive art installations.
There’s also set to be a “Journey to the Future”-themed escape room, which will blend entertainment and education, along with a diverse array of culinary experiences showcasing traditional and contemporary cuisine.
The festival will also see the return of the popular ‘Diriyah Nights,’ where Diriyah’s heritage farms transform into a vibrant wonderland, showcasing stunning art installations, design, cuisine, live performances, and more at Bujairi Terrace.
At-Turaif will be hosting events like At-Turaif Always On, workshops, Msayan At-Turaif, poetry pop-ups, a retrospective, and an old-time souq like Souq Almawsim. At Wadi Safar, you can look forward to a Diriyah Cultural Bootcamp.
Diriyah Season 2023 will also feature “an impressive lineup of cultural concerts,” including Saudi music icons Rabeh Saqer and Ayed, who will perform at Mayadeen Theater.
Hosted by the Ministry of Culture’s culinary initiative, The Culinary Arts Commission, and Diriyah Season, Shetana is a cultural celebration of heritage experiences in the desert. Ticket prices start at SAR300 for two.
In 2024, we’re also looking forward to the return of the Diriyah E-Prix starting on Friday January 26 and going on until Saturday January 27. The race weekends here in Diriyah see tonnes of excitement, including major concerts by international and regional stars. Previously, we’ve seen the likes of John Legend, James Blunt, The Script, and Black Eyed Peas too. So, we can only imagine what’s in store for this year’s edition.
Tickets
Tickets for the event will be available for purchase starting on Sunday December 10, and the season is expected to go on until March 2024.
Diriyah Season, Diriyah, starting Dec 10. diriyah.sa