In a wider plan to turn Saudi Arabia, the desert country, into one of the world’s top 10 entertainment destinations, several policies have been introduced under which restaurants and cafes will now be eligible to apply for entertainment licenses to host music and comedy events. The nation is planning to ramp up its entertainment offerings in 2019, as spoken by Turki Al-Sheikh, the new CEO of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertaintment Authority (GEA), amid a demonstration of the 2019 GEA programme at the Four Seasons hotel in Riyadh.
The wide range of entertainment options include football exhibitions, magic shows and Islamic cultural events etc. As part of the strategy, the GEA has entered into long-term contracts with over 100 local and international partners for it.
Citing Quran recitations contests as an important part of the cultural entertainmet, Al-Sheikh said, “Competitions are an important element of entertainment and the crucial one will take place during Ramadan which will be of an Islamic nature.”
The cultural entertainment programmes also include the Hijra journey contest, which is a re-enactment of the Prophet Mohammed’s journey between Makkah and Madinah. The contestants here, will be awarded with a prize of SAR 1 million ($266,620), as announced by Al-Sheikh.
Other recreational activities will include e-gaming events, concerts, plays, car ‘drifting’ competitions, stand-up comedy and magic shows, and above all exhibition football matches featuring the likes of David Beckham and Zenedine Zidane !
Al-Sheikh is also hopeful with the GEA, exploring the possibility of holding a US National Basketball Association (NBA) event in the kingdom, and has added a proposal of opening a Madame Tussauds wax museum in 2019.
Most importantly, all the above events, will not hamper the local cultural values. As Al-Sheikh said, “ We will retain our religion. Which is clear and we will adhere to our Islamic values. This is us. With this we are returning to what we had and what we were 40 years ago.”
In future, such exciting entertainment activities will find local talents that can be exhibited on international forums and to a great degree, the entertainment sector will be a key pillar of providing investment and employment opportunities.
Being hopeful about the above facts, Al-Sheikh said, “Realising our dreams for Vision 2030, we heavily rely on the entertainment sector. Unless we work together for it, we won’t attain our goals.”
