The Royal Commission for AlUla Launches Its Second Winter at Tantora Festival of Culture, Heritage and Celebration in Saudi Arabia
20.12.2019 00:21:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
The second Winter at Tantora Festival in AlUla in North West Saudi Arabia starts today – a three-month celebration that will showcase the very best in international music, art and culture connecting East and West as the AlUla county has done for thousands of years.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191219005781/en/
Winter at Tantora: Experience AlUla (Photo : AETOSWire)
It comes just months after Saudi Arabia introduced tourist visas to citizens from 49 countries making the Kingdom more accessible than ever with the UNESCO World Heritage site at Hegra in AlUla among those featured in a global marketing campaign.
The festival is part of the Cultural Manifesto that was launched by the festival organisers, the Royal Commission for AlUla, in Paris in October as part of a long-term strategy to transform the region and open the region as a global living museum and place of culture, heritage and the arts.
Winter at Tantora will cover 12 weekends from 19th December and host a wide range of events from the world-famous Dakar Rally; international ballooning festival; the world’s second longest endurance horse race; the world’s first desert polo tournament and welcome pop-up restaurants from globally renowned restaurants.
The spectacular mirrored wall Maraya Theatre with its 500-seat capacity and operatic sound quality will be home throughout the festival to some of the world’s leading performers who range from Omar Khairat to Andrea Bocelli.
Festival visitors will also be able to meet and engage with young members of the AlUla community who are benefitting from a diverse range of training programmes in hospitality; culture; nature and the environment and studying overseas including 24 men and women at the FERRANDI Paris culinary institute in Paris.
These young chefs will work alongside Michelin-starred experts during the festival creating world-class cuisine that will incorporate local ingredients from the fertile AlUla valley and blending traditional recipes with modern cuisine.
RCU CEO Amr AlMadani says: “Festival visitors will be given a unique opportunity to visit and experience one of the world’s undiscovered places and its spectacular heritage sites before we reopen them to the world in October 2020.
“They will get a tantalising glimpse of a place that been a cultural crossroads for thousands of years and the chance to see it from the serenity of a hot air balloon; the adrenaline of soaring over the desert and mountains in an open seater biplane or exploring hidden canyons in traditional vintage Land Rovers.”
The Royal Commission for AlUla has also completed major infrastructure work at AlUla airport – increasing capacity fourfold to 400,000 visitors a year and upgrading local mountain resorts to enhance the visitor experience.
AlUla will be a worldwide destination for those seeking a unique experience of the full meaning and context of landscape – an experience that integrates the natural and cultural heritage as one living environment. By safeguarding our precious landscapes and cultural heritage this open-air museum will be the Kingdom’s gift to the world creating remarkable and lasting memories.
‘Authentic AlUla’, the opening weekend, is a celebration rooted in AlUla, to mark the start of the winter planting season at the iconic Tantora sundial from which the festival is named. It is the first of 12 specially themed weekends.
Notes to editors
To find out more about the Winter at Tantora festival and details of packages and the entertainment and cultural programmes, log on to www.experiencealula.com
To find out more about how the Royal Commission for AlUla is working with the community to develop a world-class tourism destination, log on to www.rcu.gov.sa
*Source: AETOSWire
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191219005781/en/
Contact information
RCU Public Relations team
The head of PR at RCU
Antony Newton
PublicRelations@rcu.gov.sa
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
KiddeFenwal Launches New Website and Information Hub8.7.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
KiddeFenwal, the global leader in the fire suppression and safety controls industry, today unveiled a revitalized website, designed to serve as a comprehensive information hub for fire industry practitioners and customers alike. The modernized platform includes features created specifically with the company’s global partners, OEMs and distributors in mind, including: Accelerated asset navigation, pointing users to critical safety documentation, design parameters and product specifications; Seamless solution mapping, helping users quickly locate fire suppression configurations by industry, from data centers to BESS applications to commercial kitchens; and Enhanced resource access, including streamlined pathways to connect with the company’s elite distributor network across 120 countries. It also provides information about the company’s three brands, Kidde Fire Systems, Kidde Fire Protection and Fenwal Controls, replacing other sites serving customers in Europe and India. The launch of t
Red Sea Global Strengthens AMAALA's Wellness Offering With Opening of Six Senses AMAALA8.7.2026 18:22:00 EEST | Press release
Red Sea Global (RSG), the regenerative tourism developer, has announced the opening of beachfront resort Six Senses AMAALA, which will welcome its first guests mid-July. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708505794/en/ An aerial view of Six Senses AMAALA and its surrounding shoreline at Triple Bay The launch represents an exciting next step in the AMAALA destination’s journey, as it continues to come to life and welcome guests to enjoy unrivaled wellness experiences set against a backdrop of soaring coastal cliffs, protected bays, pristine beaches, and mountainous desert. "Every partner we bring into our portfolio is selected because they share our long-term vision of luxury travel with regeneration for people and planet at its center. Six Senses has built a global reputation for wellness experiences rooted in nature, sustainability, and local culture, making it a natural fit for AMAALA. As the second Six Sens
Rigaku Opens "Rigaku Solutions Center Osaka" to Strengthen Global Semiconductor Metrology Service Capabilities8.7.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Rigaku Corporation, a global solution partner in X-ray analytical systems and a group company of Rigaku Holdings Corporation (headquarters: Akishima, Tokyo; CEO: Jun Kawakami; “Rigaku”), has opened the Rigaku Solutions Center Osaka (RSC-Osaka) at its Osaka Plant. The new facility centralizes and expands practical training for field service engineers supporting semiconductor metrology systems, strengthening Rigaku's global service capabilities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708402770/en/ Photo: Hands-on training using the TXRF-V310 at RSC-Osaka As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to advance toward finer geometries, higher layer counts, and more complex three-dimensional structures, semiconductor metrology systems require ever greater precision and operational stability. X-ray analytical technologies play an increasingly important role in meeting these demands through highly accurate, non-dest
Dryad Networks Reaches XPRIZE Wildfire Finals Milestone, Demonstrating Autonomous Detection and Suppression of Wildfires in Alaska8.7.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Dryad Networks, the leader in ultra-early wildfire detection technology, today announced a major achievement in the finals of the Autonomous Wildfire Response track of XPRIZE Wildfire, a four-year, $11 million global competition accelerating new solutions to end destructive wildfires. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707802818/en/ The Silvaguard Suppression Drone can deliver a 100 liter liquid suppressant to autonomously suppress small wildfires detected by Silvanet Competing against just two other finalists selected from an original field of nearly 300 teams worldwide, Dryad successfully demonstrated the integrated capabilities of its Silvanet wildfire detection network and Silvaguard autonomous firefighting drone system during final testing in remote Alaska. The XPRIZE Wildfire finals challenged teams to autonomously detect and suppress a wildfire without any human intervention across a vast 1,000 square k
Cardiac Dimensions ® Announces Three Major Publications Demonstrating Long-Term Durability, Real-World Performance, and Broad Patient Benefit of the Carillon Mitral Contour System ®8.7.2026 17:05:00 EEST | Press release
Cardiac Dimensions, a leader in transcatheter therapies for heart failure, today announced the publication of three major manuscripts that together form the most comprehensive evidence base ever assembled for transcatheter indirect mitral annuloplasty. These publications span a five-year multi-center commercial registry, the largest single-center experience across both preserved and reduced ejection fraction, and long-term survival results through ten years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707656796/en/ Carillon Mitral Contour System® The Carillon Mitral Contour System is the only commercially available indirect mitral annuloplasty device, designed to treat a broad and expanding population of patients living with functional mitral regurgitation. The newly published data further strengthen the clinical foundation for the therapy as Cardiac Dimensions advances toward regulatory submissions in the United State
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom