Held from 4th - 20th March, 2022 (Dates not confirmed)

Al Jenadriyah Heritage & Cultural Festival is an annual festival which celebrates the culture and heritage of Saudi Arabia. Al Jenadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival is celebrated in Riyadh during late February or early March. Jenadriyah Heritage Festival is usually held for period varying from 10 days to 2 weeks. Al Janadriya Festival is planned with two prongs, one focusing the heritage and the second focusing on cultural issues. It is a festival of recent origin, 28 years old as of 2013. Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) plays an important role in organising the festival. SCTA is a state-run organization working for developing tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with particular focus on domestic tourism through sponsoring and conducting tourism events across the country. Over the years Janadriya Festival has gone through various expansions and updations with the assistance of technology, now residents and tourist can see cultural, tourist and architectural heritage of Saudi different provinces in an interactive way. Tourists are able to observe life as it was for previous generations of Saudis and how life was in the country long before the discovery of oil. The festival not only preserves and promotes the local culture it also brings in valuable cash.

Al Jenadriyah Heritage & Cultural Festival History

King Fahd bin Abdullaziz Al Saud founded and inaugurated this Saudi festival in 1985. The festival was primarily established to remember and preserve the heritage as modernisation overshadows the traditional practices of the community. So much effort was being done to bring Saudi Arabia to the 21st Century that it was being felt that cultural practices would vanish. The festival highlighted Saudi culture featuring folk songs and dances, poetry and literature, as well as camel races and falconry. The first festival was so successful that the planned five-day affair was extended by one whole week. And since then, it has been held annually drawing huge crowds to a special site about 45 kilometres northeast of the capital city of Riyadh that was developed for the festivities.

Janadriya Festival Activities and Events

The festival includes various activities centred around the heritage and culture of Saudi Arabia.

• The festival opens with a camel race spanning over a 19-kilometer track.
• Poetry readings, lectures and symposia on Arabic culture are held each night.
• Troupes from across the country perform traditional music and dance.
• Traditional activities involving craftsmen like where blacksmiths, carpenters, cobblers, metal workers and weavers are shown in shops set up for this occasion. One can see them making bags, baskets, bracelets, bowls, doors, earrings, necklaces, pots, sandals, water jars, windows etc. from the respective material.
• Exhibition of antiquities with appropriate literature are held at various spots
• Workshops on recovery of antiquities and their restoration are held
• All airports and markets wear a festive look
• Additional tourism communication centres and Tourism toll-free telephone services are placed which provide information on festival's events and activities
• Special tourist trips for citizens and expatriates in the city of Riyadh are organised.

Al Janadriya Festival Alternate Names

• Al Janadriya Festival
• Al Jenadriyah Festival
• Janadriya Festival

Al Jenadriyah Festival Holiday Status

It is a restricted Holiday.