Saudi Arabia Launches ‘Ancient Kingdoms Festival 2025’ in AlUla to Showcase Millennia of Civilisations
More than two weeks of immersive heritage programming begin in AlUla under the theme ‘Journeys Through Time’
The north-western Saudi city of AlUla has opened the fourth edition of its annual Ancient Kingdoms Festival, running from 20 November to 6 December 2025, with more than two weeks of events designed to immerse visitors in the region’s ancient civilisations.
The festival, part of the broader AlUla Moments initiative, transforms AlUla into a “living open-air museum”, inviting audiences to retrace the kingdoms of Dadanite, Lihyanite and the Nabataean era that once flourished in the desert oasis.
This year’s theme, “Journeys Through Time”, is reflected across a host of experiences—from guided heritage walks and evening cultural performances to new artistic installations and immersive drone shows at key archaeological sites such as the Hegra tombs.
Organisers emphasise that the festival aims not simply to entertain, but to engage, connect and enrich: visitors will move through spaces that once served as vital stops on the trade-link known as the Incense Road, and will encounter local rangers, artisans and storytellers who carry forward the region’s legacy.
Abdulrahman AlSuhaibani, Vice-President of Culture at the Royal Commission for AlUla, described AlUla as “one of the complex and often unexpected legacies of ancient north-west Arabia” and said the festival seeks to make that heritage accessible to “everybody, standing as a source of knowledge, inspiration, delight and enrichment.” AlUla itself lies roughly 1,100 kilometres from Riyadh and is a focal point of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 tourism ambitions; Hegra, the kingdom’s first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site, underpins the region’s cultural appeal.
Highlights of the programme include the award-winning “Hegra After Dark” sequence (running beyond the festival into February 2026), the “Stories from the Sky” drone show illuminating Hegra from 20-29 November, and site-specific experiences across Jabal Ikmah and AlUla Old Town.
With the festival now under way, Saudi Arabia continues to position AlUla at the heart of its cultural-tourism transformation and invites both domestic and international travellers to engage with its layered historical terrain.
The festival, part of the broader AlUla Moments initiative, transforms AlUla into a “living open-air museum”, inviting audiences to retrace the kingdoms of Dadanite, Lihyanite and the Nabataean era that once flourished in the desert oasis.
This year’s theme, “Journeys Through Time”, is reflected across a host of experiences—from guided heritage walks and evening cultural performances to new artistic installations and immersive drone shows at key archaeological sites such as the Hegra tombs.
Organisers emphasise that the festival aims not simply to entertain, but to engage, connect and enrich: visitors will move through spaces that once served as vital stops on the trade-link known as the Incense Road, and will encounter local rangers, artisans and storytellers who carry forward the region’s legacy.
Abdulrahman AlSuhaibani, Vice-President of Culture at the Royal Commission for AlUla, described AlUla as “one of the complex and often unexpected legacies of ancient north-west Arabia” and said the festival seeks to make that heritage accessible to “everybody, standing as a source of knowledge, inspiration, delight and enrichment.” AlUla itself lies roughly 1,100 kilometres from Riyadh and is a focal point of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 tourism ambitions; Hegra, the kingdom’s first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site, underpins the region’s cultural appeal.
Highlights of the programme include the award-winning “Hegra After Dark” sequence (running beyond the festival into February 2026), the “Stories from the Sky” drone show illuminating Hegra from 20-29 November, and site-specific experiences across Jabal Ikmah and AlUla Old Town.
With the festival now under way, Saudi Arabia continues to position AlUla at the heart of its cultural-tourism transformation and invites both domestic and international travellers to engage with its layered historical terrain.
