RIYADH: Leading local and international artists will perform at AlUla to celebrate the 92nde Saudi National Day in September. The program was broadcast across all 82 screens in Riyadh Boulevard City and included a five-minute performance by Saudi violinist and DJ Kayan, who performed in front of the legendary AlUla Elephant Rock.

In its second edition, Azimuth, amplified by MDLBEAST will feature regional and local artists including Kayan, Dorar, Solskin, Dish Dash, Baloo, Biirdperson, Nomad, Gooner, Nightmare on Wax Live, Anmarz, Vinyl Mode, Damian Lazarus, DJ Snake and Parov Stelar.

The event begins on Thursday, September 22, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following day. On Friday, the show runs from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Saturday.

“We are very excited to host Azimuth this year during the National Day weekend in the stunning and enchanting setting of AlUla,” announces Saudi DJ Baloo, the man behind Azimuth 2022.

The festival takes place in the same valley where the art exhibition took place Desert X AlUla took place earlier this year. “Everything that is developed for AlUla is exceptional and as music programmers we had to create a festival that is special enough to fit within the magical space that we have available,” he adds.

Dorrar, Solskin, DJ Snake, Dish Dash, Damian Lazarus and Vinyl Mode perform on day oneAzimuth. On the second day, Kayan, Biirdperson, Gooner, Nightmare on Wax Live, Parov Stelar, ANMARZ and Baloo will take the stage.

Philip Jones, Director of Marketing and Destination Management at the Royal Commission for AlUla Arabic News that the main difference between MDLBEAST in Riyadh and AlUla is that “if we can accommodate 30,000 people in Riyadh, we can only accommodate a thousand in AlUla”.

According to Jones, it’s more of an individual, tailored experience with smaller crowds. “Our offering is so experiential that it will differentiate us from the crowd because it fits with AlUla’s image as a high-end luxury destination. So think of it as a high-end luxury festival.”

This year AlUla Moments presents several festivals and events: Azimuth, Winter in Tantora, AlUla Wellness Festival and for the first time The Ancient Kingdoms Festival, drawing inspiration from seven thousand years of successive civilizations on the Arabian Peninsula and the famous Incense Route.

“In particular, we want to support and develop the entertainment sector in Saudi Arabia. Because AlUla offers amazing backdrops for film, entertainment and video, we wanted to use it to showcase this aspect of developing and nurturing existing local talent,” says Mr. Jones.

Tickets are available at experiencealula.com.

This text is a translation of an article published on Arabnews.com