Over the weekend I visited Riyadh to check out the Noor Festival. Noor means light in Arabic and I think they have around 44 different installations located all around Riyadh for this festival. Some of the installations are really epic and I mainly went to check out two, the one above by SpY Studio, and the one below by Arne Quinze.
All the installations are free to check out although for some it seemed like they required to get free tickets so I did, but then nobody was checking for tickets.
I only wanted to spend one night in Riyadh so I was rushing from one place to another to check out the installations. It was Friday which meant there wasn’t much traffic which was great. The Arne Quinze installation was located around an hour outside Riyadh in the middle of nowhere so that took the longest to get to. It was actually located on the same road into Riyadh coming from Kuwait (I only realized the second day on my way back to Kuwait) so if you leave Kuwait around 11AM you could get there just in time for sunset, check it out, and then continue into the city.
I got to Riyad around 1PM had lunch, checked into my hotel, had coffee, and then drove back out of Riyadh for an hour to get to the installation and another hour coming back. I also spent an hour at the location because there was a second installation (photo above) right next to it, So the Arne Quinze installation took the most amount of time to check out but it was definitely worth it.
Finding the different installations was easy since Noor Riyadh has an app showing all the different installations on a map. All the locations open up on Google Maps so find them was simple. I say you’d need 2 nights in Riyadh to visit most of the ones you’re interested in, especially if you want to do other things in Riyadh. I wanted to also visit Riyadh Boulevard City (tickets from here) and have dinner there at Public (it was great), but that meant by around 10 PM I decided to stop checking out the installations and head there, without Boulevard City I would probably have been able to check out maybe 2 to 4 more installations I was interested in.
Traveling to Riyadh is easy as I’ve posted before and if you live in Kuwait then it’s really easy to get an evisa. There wasn’t any traffic at the borders leaving Friday morning but there was traffic coming in on Saturday afternoon and I ended up spending 30 minutes at the Saudi side of the border.
For more information on Noor Riyadh and to download the app, visit their Instagram @noorriyadhfestival and their website riyadhart.sa/en/noor-riyadh
The last day of the festival is Saturday, November 19th.
13 replies on “Visit the Noor Riyadh Festival”
I love this stuff. I hope I get to see it!
why do I get this feeling that Saudi will probably give you more content to blog about eventually? there is also the MDL Beast soundstorm music festival coming up from dec 1 – 3 featuring 200 artists….
lol for sure
bigger country = more content 🙂
not necessarily…imagine how much content can a state like Dubai create… it all depends on what’s allowed here and what’s not and what entertainment options does the country offer
Objectively speaking, compared to 3 years ago Kuwait right now is much more open and so much is allowed in terms of entertainment options. Just looking at the entertainment options available at JACC, kuwait arena, and Eventat kuwait. All these music concerts in recent months. That new karaoke house and roller skating rink. Plus the first ever kuwait “Winter Wonderland” at shaab park and reopening of aqua park (bay zero) near kuwait towers. Woah woah…. Big improvements in recent months.
Especially compared to a mere 3 years ago when nothing was allowed, everything was canceled and everything was banned. Kuwait felt like living in a Taliban ISIS state. It was that awful.
Well 3 years ago we had a lockdown and corona so not really a good comparison. From the list you shared though, you mentioned 2 venues, a karaoke place and a rollar skating rink and a temporary entertainment park that hasn’t opened yet. That’s your idea of lots of entertainment?
3 years ago was 2019 which was before the covid lockdown. Covid lockdowns in Kuwait began in 2020. Furthermore, you yourself Mr. Mark Makhoul put out lists and report on entertainment events in Kuwait on the regular.
So objectively speaking if you are dissatisfied with the quality and quantity of events in Kuwait, just move out of the country.
Because I don’t have a political agenda and the Saudi government doesn’t pay me to promote them,
I can objectively and neutrally compare and analyse what Saudi Arabia is offering vis a vis Kuwait in terms of entertainment events and cultural activities, but we all know that objectivity is out of the window on this blog (duh).
I think you’re missing the point, I was highlighting how ridiculous and stupid you sounded by talking about how great Kuwait’s entertainment was and then mentioning a small roller skating rink in Salmiya as an example. Your stupid argument has nothing to do with me being dissatisfied, not neutral or any other fake story you’re trying to inject here to make it sound like you’re defending Kuwait while I’m attacking it. I’ve spent 20 years blogging and helping people (Kuwaitis and expats) make the best out of Kuwait, so for you to come and acuse me of being anti-Kuwait just makes you look dumber than you did in your previous post. So you can now go fuck yourself cuz I’m not going to let you comment here anymore.
I remember the 00’s when Saudi’s used to drive to Kuwait for entertainment.
They still do! Just as the lovely people of Kuwait travel the world seeking entertainment. Which is fine, right?
Fun isn’t a monoply game if you catch my drift, and history remembers everything. 😉
Especially, since many Kuwaiti owned businesses are branching outside of the country now. So go figure!
Have fun everybody! XD
Every dog must have its day which is why I guess they came up with ‘impossible is nothing.’ Looking forward to the ‘Jidda Lit Festival’ and ‘Gay Pride Al Khobar’ now.
Burning man for khaleejis