logo
Diriyah Season Presents "Souk Wonders" …..Enchanting Cultural Journey

Diriyah Season Presents "Souk Wonders" …..Enchanting Cultural Journey

Leaders06-02-2025

Diriyah Season is welcoming visitors to Souk Wonders , an immersive indoor market launching today. This vibrant event blends imagination, performing arts, and live entertainment, offering a unique sensory journey. Running until February 28 at the Mayadeen Venue, Souk Wonders is a highlight of the season's artistic and cultural celebrations.
Guests can enjoy two spectacular performances daily, featuring mesmerizing magic acts, exhilarating trampoline and high-wire stunts, and the rhythmic beauty of Saudi Arabia's traditional Samri dance. The market's enchanting ambiance comes to life with hosts in folkloric attire, a bustling plaza rich in color and music, and exclusive VIP lounges offering premium hospitality.
Visitors can explore an exciting mix of local and international cuisine while discovering a curated shopping experience that showcases the region's diverse heritage.
Secure your tickets now: Diriyah Season – The Souk.
Related Topics :
Diriyah Season Returns with Distinctive Cultural Experiences
'Samari Night' Celebrates Traditional Arts Within Riyadh Season
Step into Bonjour Saudi: Marvelous House in the Heart of Diriyah
Empowering Women: The Unsung Heroes Behind the First Saudi State's Rise
Short link :
Post Views: 92 Related Stories

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Diriyah Season's celebration of culture and heritage comes to an end
Diriyah Season's celebration of culture and heritage comes to an end

Arab News

time13-04-2025

  • Arab News

Diriyah Season's celebration of culture and heritage comes to an end

RIYADH: Diriyah Season 2024-25 concluded on Friday evening after more than 100 days of exhibitions, interactive experiences, live performances, and more. The event boosted cultural tourism and fostered cultural exchanges with visitors from around the world. The season featured 10 main programs across various locations, based around history, arts, culture, architecture, design, poetry, storytelling, performing arts, and culinary arts. It began with 'Enduring Resilience,' an audio-video exhibition celebrating 200 years of the Second Saudi State and the life of its founder, Imam Turki bin Abdullah. Samri dance events added an authentic cultural touch, and allowed visitors to join performances of this ancient art, creating a unique interactive experience. The Minzal program invited visitors on a luxury glamping trip in Diriyah's stunning nature, where they could enjoy local markets, traditional folk tales, and live music performances. The 850 Interactive Experience allowed visitors to explore Diriyah's history and landmarks through engaging activities. The Diriyah Storytelling Festival brought together writers and storytellers, publishers and bookstore owners for cultural activities, literary evenings, and panel discussions featuring more than 150 speakers. The TYN Festival celebrated mud-brick architecture and its relevance to modern innovation. Dragone introduced the Souq Wonders experience for the first time during Diriyah Season, with live performances featuring music, magic, trampolining, and tightrope walking. Although the season may have ended, Diriyah's historic At-Turaif district — a UNESCO World Heritage site — and Bujairi Terrace will continue to welcome visitors to the area.

‘Souk Wonders' to give final performances as show nears end
‘Souk Wonders' to give final performances as show nears end

Arab News

time27-02-2025

  • Arab News

‘Souk Wonders' to give final performances as show nears end

RIYADH: Diriyah Season's 'Souk Wonders,' featuring trampolines, circus acrobatics, musical entertainment, balancing acts, and a variety of culinary experiences will come to a close on Friday. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ 'We have been doing it for a month now and we have done 33 shows and it's been amazing — honestly, I love it here and I am really sad for it to be over,' Ghada Sheri, a singer and songwriter, told Arab News. 'I get to sing to people every day and see their reactions and I share the stage with amazing performers as well so that has been amazing,' she said. 'Souk Wonders' features traditional Najdi architecture, tents, a majlis, and an oversized marketplace scale that spins as guests are seated on it. The performances kick off with a daring show featuring performers jumping off the edges of the traditional Najdi structures towards the crowd and onto a trampoline. The routines come back-to-back, leaving audience members anticipating which way to turn next. Carina Pires, a nurse from Portugal, has lived in the Kingdom for 12 years, and attended 'Souk Wonders' with her friends. 'It's been amazing. We have just been mesmerized. We don't know where to look, it's been so many things with so many emotions, it's really good,' Pires told Arab News. 'It was amazing, I have been experiencing things here that I didn't in my country,' she added. When asked what her favorite part of the show was, Pires said: 'Everything was amazing, I cannot point to one, it was everything.' A unique feature of 'Souk Wonders' is the currency. Although real money can be used, visitors are taken back in time as they are presented with gold Diriyah Season coins to make their purchases. For example, a water bottle would cost guests 1 coin, with each coin valued at SR5 ($1.33). A regular ticket gives visitors 18 coins, and the platinum ticket allows for 24. Along with live performances, 'Souk Wonders' has restaurant and cafe booths that feature unique dishes that pay tribute to traditional flavors with modern-day twists all crafted by Saudi chefs especially brought in to design the menu for the event. Saudi chef Samira Jan was the mind behind the Sand of Zaatar booth, featuring flavors from the Levant region, including a Palestinian musakhan tart as well as a sweet Syrian basbousa tart. Other Saudi-crafted creations included soft drinks and mixed mocktails at Al Bar booth. One unique feature of 'Souk Wonders' is the interactive performances from the actors of the who remained in character throughout whilst interacting with guests. 'Souk Wonders' will put on its final shows on Feb. 28 at 7:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. and then at 10:45 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. in Venue before coming to a close for Ramadan.

Tales of Founding Day come to life at Diriyah celebrations
Tales of Founding Day come to life at Diriyah celebrations

Arab News

time24-02-2025

  • Arab News

Tales of Founding Day come to life at Diriyah celebrations

RIYADH: A tale as old as time, Diriyah, heart of the Kingdom and the setting of its first chapter, celebrated Founding Day with an array of musical performances, shows and historical exhibits that ended on Sunday. Families and guests of all ages and nationalities were welcomed at Diriyah to learn all about the establishment of the First Saudi State. History lessons were available through shadow theater performances, Kahoot quizzes, interactive screens and palace-side projections displaying the Kingdom's journey. Guests were tailed by musical groups singing traditional and cultural songs walking around Diriyah, carrying with them the songs of battles fought and won. Vincent Pomer, a visitor from Boston in the US who is visiting a friend in the Kingdom, told Arab News: 'I feel kind of a sense of contentment and peace, seeing how everybody is respectful of their past. 'I will equate it to, as me being American, the Fourth of July. We celebrate Fourth of July not so much as our freedom but it is our short-lived history … Founding Day is the equivalent here for Saudi Arabia.' One of the highlights of the celebrations was a Samri show, a Bedouin dance and music that originated in Najd. About 300 years old, Samri was traditionally performed when families gathered on desert nights. Two lines of men would kneel, swaying and clapping while singing poetry and beating on a Daf drum. The celebrations also included workshops for children and families on various skills, such as perfumery, sketching, painting and bracelet making. Arab News spoke to Umar Sial, a Pakistani national who has lived in Saudi Arabia for the past six months, to ask about the highlights of his visit to Diriyah with his family. 'This is our first time here. We visited Bujairi Terrace and Al-Turaif area and I think it's very interesting, especially the old heritage they are showcasing' he said. 'Culturally, it's very enlightening for newcomers.' Sial's favorite attraction was seeing what the old houses were like in Salwa Palace and how people used to live, in addition to the singers and dancers presenting throughout the event. According to Sial, foreign nationals could greatly benefit from attending such events to strengthen their cultural ties to the Kingdom. 'These (events) are very important to understand how things work here, especially if you want to integrate into their culture, you see how they are raised, how they speak, what their songs are like, how they eat, how their family systems work, you see their families are all around them. 'I think these are very important if you want to understand how culture works in Saudi Arabia,' he said. Saudi Arabia is known for being proud of its food and this was showcased by real Saudi families on every route. Each of these families had their own booth and had prepared traditional dishes like saleeg, foul and more, given out freely to the wandering guests. Historical figures such as Imam Mohammed bin Saud, the founding father of the First Saudi State, and his wife Princess Modi bint Khalid Al Saud were given center stage as their stories were told through performances during the Diriyah Remembrance segments of the evening, detailing Imam Mohammed bin Saud's full journey in solidifying the early days of the Kingdom. Melissa Sarawi, a guest from the Philippines in Saudi Arabia with her family, told Arab News that the most exciting aspects of Saudi culture for foreign nationals to see were the food and the people. Sarawi said that as a Muslim it had been fascinating to learn about Islam from its birthplace and its historic associations with Saudi Arabia. 'Coming here and experiencing Founding Day is very good, it's very new to me. I am a Muslim in nature and by birth, and learning more about these things in Riyadh, like learning about the history of Islam and all these historical places … (it's) refreshing to know about these things.' Contestants from the Rawi Al-Diriyah competition, a storytelling competition produced jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Diriyah Gate Development Authority for school students reciting historic Diriyah stories, were also featured during these narratives. Other activities included a horse show and showcasing the Arabian horse, presenting traditional Najdi dress and live poetry sessions.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store