As Riyadh Season 2023 takes centre stage across the Kingdom with high octane sports events, new festival zones to explore, dazzling firework displays, thrilling theme-park rides, and of course family-friendly entertainment - you might have missed some interesting news.

Let's take a look:

Ancient Kingdoms Festival returns to AlUla this week

In commemoration of Hegra's 15th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this exceptional festival will return to celebrate and honour the history of significant cultural locations such as AlUla, Khaybar, and Tayma.

Running from November 16 through to December 2, visitors around the world will delve into immersive encounters and events that aim to ignite curiosity, evoke wonder, and establish a deep connection with the ancient history of our significant historic locations, in order to create a collective sense of connection to our history and culture.

Discover more events taking place during Ancient Kingdoms Festival here.

Various prices, from November 16 - December 2

experiencealula.com

Catch a concert at European Music Week in the capital

The first European Music Week is currently taking place in Riyadh. Designed with a cultural focus, this week-long music event aims to introduce the local audience to Europe's musical landscape, through the universal language of song and sound.

Taking place at the Saudi Music Hub in Riyadh, attendees will be able to enjoy a number of concerts with performances by nine amazing European artists from a selection of countries: including Portugal, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Estonia, Greece and the Netherlands, offering a diverse range of musical sounds and a taste of each country's culture.

Free entry, from November 11 - 20,

European Music Week, Saudi Music Hub, Riyadh

eventbrite.com

Riyadh Air Launches New Livery

Riyadh Air revealed its first lavender-inspired livery at the Paris Airshow in June 2023, and this week the nation's newest airline unveiled another iteration of the livery at the Dubai Airshow.

Now offering dual-livery, Riyadh Air initially unveiled a royal purple lead design, with the newest livery being the inverted colour-way, with a white leading base. Both livery will be permanent.

Launching in 2025, Saudi Arabia's new world-class airline is set to commence operations, with plans to connect the Kingdom's capital to over 100 destinations globally by 2030.

@riyadhair

Arabian Leopard Cubs Born in AlUla

The Arabian Leopard is one of the Kingdom's native animals, but they an endangered species.

Added to the IUCN's Red List in 1996, it has been estimated that there are less than 200 of these cats living in the wild. With this in mind, the Royal Commission for AlUla has teamed up with several internationally respected conservation organisations to work to conserve and repopulate the Arabian Leopard in the Kingdom, through a breeding programme and biodiversity restoration.

Since launching this direct, conservation effort in 2020, thirteen Arabian Leopard tiger cubs have been born through this breeding programme. And, this month a litter of seven new leopard cubs were added to the population.

experiencealula.com

@experiencealula

Tickets are now on sale for the Saudi Games 2023

The Saudi Games is the nation’s largest sporting event, and the second edition has been confirmed to take place later this month. From November 26 until Sunday December 10 the event will showcase the skills and talents of thousands of athletes from across the Kingdom, across a number of sports such as athletics, wrestling, boxing and cycling.

These more traditional sporting competitions will take place alongside a number of intriguing sports - both modern and culturally important, traditional sports - such as chess, kite-boarding and e-gaming as well as baloot and camel racing. Athletes with disabilities will also be taking part in a number of competitions.

And, tickets for the event are now on sale.

saudigames.sa/en

@thesaudigames

AlUla receives a fleet of electric cars

The Royal Commission for AlUla in collaboration with Lucid Motors have introduced a fleet of thirty electric vehicles to the region.

This collaboration with the RCU governate will not only future proof the AlUla region through the introduction of smarter and cleaner travel options, but will also align with the regions aim for sustainable living alongside the ultimate goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

This fleet of thirty electric vehicles is just the next step in the RCU's sustainable travel initiatives. In 2021, an autonomous electric vehicle service was introduced in AlUla's Old Town and at the Dadan site. And more recently, this year the RCU announced that a sustainably run tramline service in the AlUla area.

rcu.gov.sa

saudi-games-2023