Riyadh Season

Riyadh Season is a state-sponsored annual entertainment and sports festival, part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative held since 2019 from October to March during winter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Overview
First unveiled by the General Entertainment Authority in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030 in October 2019, the festival brought unprecedented sports and entertainment themes in Riyadh.
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. 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.
Riyadh Season 2019
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. It included 100 events that took place at 12 different zones:
Riyadh Boulevard
Riyadh Front
Riyadh Car Exhibition
Riyadh Winter Wonderland
Riyadh Sports Arenas
Diplomatic Quarters
Al-Murabaa
Al-Malazz
Wadi Namar
Riyadh Beat
Riyadh Safari
Riyadh Sahara
Riyadh Season 2021
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.
Riyadh Boulevard
VIA Riyadh
Combat Field
Riyadh Winter Wonderland
Riyadh Front
Al-Murabaa
Riyadh Safari
Al-Athriyah
Riyadh Oasis
The Groves
Nabd al-Riyadh
Zaman Village
al-Salam Tree
Khalooha
Riyadh Season 2022
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:
America
France
Greece
Italy
India
China
Spain
Morocco
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
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 will be marked with the addition of Boulevard Hall, an indoor arena with FIFA and AFC-compliant football pitch capable of hosting various types of events with more than 40,000 spectators in attendance (27,000 for football matches). It will be renamed to Kingdom Arena in January 2024 and serve as the new home ground of Al Hilal.
The following events will take place as part of 2023 Riyadh Season:
Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou was held in Boulevard Hall (Kingdom Arena) on 28 October 2023 to kick off the Riyadh Season.
WWE Crown Jewel 2023 will be held in Mohammed Abdu Arena on 4 November 2023.
Soundstorm Festival by MDLBEAST will be held between 14-16 December 2023.
Riyadh Season Tennis Cup, featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka, will be held between 26-27 December 2023.
2023 Turkish Super Cup between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe will be held in Al Awwal Park on 30 December 2023.
UFC Fight Night 236 will be held in Boulevard Hall (Kingdom Arena) on 2 March 2024.
Riyadh Season Cup featuring Riyadh XI (combined Al Hilal and Al Nassr all-star team), Manchester City, Al Shabab and Roma, with dates to be confirmed.
2023–24 Supercopa de España featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Osasuna, with dates to be confirmed.
2023 Supercoppa Italiana featuring Napoli, Inter Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, with dates to be confirmed.
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship will be held at Boulevard Hall (Kingdom Arena), in February of 2024 with date to be confirmed.
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.
See also
@HACK, a cybersecurity and hacking convention that is annually held during Riyadh Season
References
2019 establishments in Saudi Arabia
Festivals established in 2019
Annual events in Saudi Arabia
Festivals in Saudi Arabia
Season
Season