Riyadh Season: Saudis dress up as movie, anime characters at costume event
Hundreds of Saudis dressed up as their favorite superheroes, movie, and anime characters and paraded around Riyadh City Boulevard last week in a two-day costume event held as part of the Riyadh Season megafestival.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

To many of the attendees, it was the first time they openly dressed up in costumes. The event took place on March 17 and 18.

“I was really happy with the spotlight, the turnout and the great achievement in this season. I had to participate with the best I have,” Saud al-Hazani, who won the event's best costume prize, told Reuters.
“Honestly, I came here not expecting this engagement, it’s something really professional,” Abdulkadir Abdullah, who’s costume was inspired by the mobile game ‘PUBG’, told Reuters.

The event was organized by the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) as part of the Riyadh Season, an arts and culture festival that runs annually across the Saudi Arabian capital, featuring art shows, concerts and sports events.

Chairman of the GEA Turki Al al-Sheikh tweeted a video of himself at the cosplay event on Thursday sporting a Homer Simpson mask surrounded by friends who were also dressed up in costumes. He expressed his happiness on the success of the event and revealed that Riyadh Season has so far attracted over 14 million people since its launch.
رسالتي لكل زوارنا اليوم … وننتظركم بكرة بتنكر اقوى … فاجئوني … احبكم … #موسم_الرياض ❤️🇸🇦🔥 pic.twitter.com/KRHZFD67yr
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) March 17, 2022
The megafestival was first held in 2019, beginning in October and ending in January 2020.
On the second day of the cosplay event (March 18), Jamaican artist, music producer and rapper Sean Paul performed a concert.
The chart-topping and multi-award-winning dancehall rapper, record producer and singer is regarded as one of the genre’s most prolific artists who rose to fame in the early 2000s.
Over the course of his career, Sean Paul has collaborated with multiple award-winning artists such as Beyonce, Clean Bandit, Dua Lipa, and Fuse ODG. He has also won multiple awards including a Grammy and MTV Music Award.
With Reuters
Read more:
Saudi Space Commission, UK Space Agency sign MOU for peaceful use of outer space
Saudis enjoy challenges inspired by popular Korean drama ‘Squid Game’
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah street track to host F1 for at least four more years
-
Saudi Arabia’s ‘Riyadh Season’ awarded another Guinness World Record
The Riyadh Season festival in Saudi Arabia’s capital city has been awarded another Guinness World Record title, the Saudi Press Agency announced on ... Gulf -
Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season attracts 4.5 million visitors in one month
Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season, held in the Kingdom’s capital, has attracted 4.5 million visitors in one month, and provided more than 122,000 jobs, ... Gulf -
Saudi artist Noura Bin Saidan adorns her city walls for Riyadh Season
Lifting herself up 30 meters high with a crane, Saudi artist Noura Bin Saidan has wreathed the walls of Riyadh’s City Boulevard with 16 ... Art and culture