FIVE YEARS OF RAPID CHANGE MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE FOR SAUDIS
▶ Young people say they can’t believe kingdom today is same country in which they grew up
Ghada Mohammed still can’t quite believe she drove her mother and sister across the Saudi capital to Boulevard World for an evening of global food and mingling with people from all over the world.
“I never thought I would be driving in my country,” she says, recalling the time before the ban on women drivers was lifted in 2018.
“I feel the sense of pride my mother has in seeing me drive and being independent, but I feel sorry for her that she never had the chance.”
The change felt like a landmark moment in Saudi Arabia. Five years have yet to pass, yet many Saudis say their country is unrecognisable in so many ways.
“I can’t believe this is the same Saudi Arabia I was born in and lived in my entire life,” says Haneen Al Shammri.
Only a handful of years ago, there were few large public cultural events, few tourists other than pilgrims undertaking Hajj or Umrah and even fewer outlets for Saudis to mix in public, meet and have fun.
The Riyadh Season, which is currently under way, and events such as Boulevard World are ample evidence of the changes that are taking place in the kingdom.
Riyadh Season is a vast, state-organised festival of entertainment and sport in the capital between October and March that brought in more than 10 million visitors in its first year in 2020.
Boulevard World in the capital’s Hittin neighbourhood is one of a host of pop-up events with the aim of bringing global culture to Saudi Arabia.
The fair features a recreation of New York’s Times Square, London’s Piccadilly, neon Tokyo-inspired districts, Venetian canals and a miniature Taj Mahal.
It also includes the world’s largest artificial lake, which has its own “submarine experience” and is the venue for dozens of local and international events, including Cirque du Soleil, WWE and exhibition football matches pitching Paris Saint-Germain against Saudi sides Al Hilal and Al Nassr, who famously recently signed megastar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ms Mohammed says experiencing the many different cultures and cuisines at the site was a first for her.
“Mostly we enjoyed the Indian food and my favourite country was Italy,” she says.
“Japan was amazing. My sisters love anime and we cannot wait to come back again.”
Ms Al Shammri said the site highlighted the new cosmopolitan Saudi Arabia that has started to emerge since e-visas were launched for tourists for the first time in 2019 as part of a push for 100 million visitors a year by 2030.
“Today I am visiting the event with my work colleagues who are from different countries choosing to live in Riyadh – the future of the world, as we say – and I get to witness different cultures with them here at one of the best large-scale events in the world in my home town. It’s crazy,” she says.
Aman Hayat, an Indian who lives in Riyadh, says events such as Riyadh Season and Boulevard World have changed the way of life in the Saudi capital and introduced foreign residents to more Saudis because before “there were close to no events where locals and ex-pats could engage”.
“Such events really open your eyes up to different worlds,” she says.
“The Indian pavilion attracted so many Saudis who were moving along to our song and dance performances. It was really nice to see that.
“You have to have more events of this quality to really tell the stories of our countries. Riyadh did an outstanding job. Even the food here is authentic.”
Boulevard World is one of a host of pop-up events with the aim of bringing global culture to Saudi Arabia