Yahtzee!
Gaming has always been a huge part of Riyadh’s culture with events like FIFAe and the Esports World Cup.
Now that the festive season is upon the capital city, it has brought with it the chill of nostalgia.
If you are looking for fun things to do to ward off nostalgia, you should head down to Al Aqiq where the first-ever International Festival of Traditional Games will be unboxed tonight.
Organized by the Ministry of Culture, the festival is set to have 15 zones and will run for an entire week.
The fun-tastic event will be spreading community awareness about the importance of heritage and conservation. It will also be promoting traditional games and sports and national practices.
So get ready have an a-maze-ing time this weekend. Here is the rule book for the festival.
International Festival of Traditional Games 2025
Get ready to dive into the ancient past and embark on an exciting journey to recapture the magic of vibrant traditional games and immerse yourself in a world of distinctive cultural events and activities. There are also participating countries bringing their traditional games for you to check out.
International Festival of Traditional Games 2025 location
The event will take over Al Aqiq for for a week at the land east of the vibrant King Abdullah Financial District.
International Festival of Traditional Games 2025 date and time
The celebrations will being from Thursday, December 19 and run until Wednesday, December 25. The gates will open from 5pm and close at midnight.
International Festival of Traditional Games 2025 tickets
Tickets for traditional gaming event are available on webook.com from SAR10.
International Festival of Traditional Games 2025 activities
- Heritage Commission Pavilion
- Partners and Sponsors area
- Souvenir Shop
- Lanes Area
Take a stroll through the facades of buildings across Saudi Arabia: The Western, Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Central regions, in a stunning heritage scene that highlights unique designs of urban heritage elements in neighborhoods and corridors, where their details are adorned with colors
and decorations, and where display cabinets are in harmony with artistic models, and directional lighting amid stalls that serve traditional food, giving you memorable and timeless moments
- Secrets of Al Faw
You’ll embark on an interactive adventure where you’ll discover the secrets of Al Faw Village by solving a series of interconnected tasks about archaeological finds, to reach the exit of the room.
- Traditional Games Journey
Take a magical journey through the history of the development of traditional games, you will start by learning about the old traditional games, through models that simulate their details and then move on to
the developed kinetic games
- Traditional Gaming Experience
Ready to immerse yourself in a large-scale interactive experience to explore, discover, and play traditional
games.
- Baloot Area
Experience traditional and popular games through interactive stages equipped with tables and chairs for Baloot, surrounded by live LCD screens so that the fans can watch the matches with excitement and fun.
- Workshop Area
Participate in innovative workshops; immerse yourself in the depths of traditional heritage; learn to make dolls, engrave leather, and color pottery.
- Challenge Zones
Play energetically and enthusiastically in competitive groups or teams and engage in challenges and competitions that mimic traditional games.
- Participating Country Pavilions
Get closer to the most beautiful traditional games, associated crafts, and folklore arts of participating countries from all over the world through cultural outlets that connect people to each other and create cultural scenarios expressing the rich history of the participating countries. The participating nations are Egypt, The UAE, Greece, Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait.
- Carnival Games
Immerse yourself in a fun-filled experience, enjoy various carnival games, and win amazing prizes.
- Food Court
Savor traditional cuisine and another, from renowned brands, with a lounge area surrounded by seats take you to a world of beauty, giving a sense of elegance, charm, and tranquility
- Craft Booths
Embark on a heritage journey that takes you to meet specialize craftsmen. Their craftsmanship is on display. Discover their ingenuity in showcasing their crafts. Be mesmerized by live demonstrations that showcase the diversity of handicrafts made by creative hands.
- Year of the Camel Pavilion 2024
Take a deep dive into the exploration of a historical element, a symbol deeply rooted in Saudi culture, through an illustrated exhibition that takes you on a visual journey through the Year of the Camel 2024.
More weekend plans in Riyadh
Riyadh Season 2024 has been doing some fantastic things including brand-new zones like Dunes of Arabia and BLVD Runway which have recently opened. If its free stuff that you want to do this weekend, you can head down to Wonder Garden where you can enter the colorful space for free for World Professions Day (make sure to wear your work clothes). Do not forget the explosive rematch between Uysk and Fury on Saturday.
From SAR10. Thu, Dec 19-Wed Dec 25. East of KAFD, Al Aqiq, webook.com.
