Eid Al Fitr Celebrations In Riyadh!

Eid Mubarak to all Blue Abaya readers! We wish you and your loved ones a blessed Eid al Fitr. If you’re in Riyadh and looking to celebrate, this quick guide will help you find the locations, timings, and best events around Riyadh.

Riyadh Municipality is organizing over 200 Eid Al Fitr events for the year 2015 in over 43 locations around Riyadh. There’s plenty of different events for families, singles, women only and children. I have found it difficult as an English speaking expatriate to know where the festivities are located and the exact timings of the fireworks for example. Nevertheless I always went each year to several different locations and very much enjoyed the festivities. Most expatriates don’t seem to be clued in to all the fun they’re missing out on, so I thought I’d share my experiences to benefit others. What a better chance for some bridging some cultural gaps and mingling with Saudis :)

I have gathered some of my favorite activities here for you and your family to enjoy this Eid in Riyadh! Most of the activities listed here are organized every year and the timings are very much the same year to year. To keep up to date with celebration schedules, activities and events, make sure you’ve liked us on Facebook to get updates and subscribed by email with the form at the end of this post.

For Blue Abaya’s Top Ten List of Things To Do During Eid holidays in Riyadh, click here!

My favorite places to go for the celebrations, which include traditional dances, folklore tents, delicious traditional foods, bazaars, poetry and plays, children’s activities and lots more are:

King AbdulAziz Historical Center

National Museum

Deerah (area surrounding Musmak fort)

Historical Diriyah al Bujairy District (new location for this year!)

King Fahad Cultural center

(click on the location to find out more details)

Fireworks will go off at the same time every night at 7 different locations around Riyadh. This year the Municipality have changed the timing to very late, 11:15 pm. Unfortunately this does not seem to cater to families with small children who might find this very inconvenient and impossible to enjoy because of it.

Eid Fireworks Locations:

Historical Ad Diriyah
King Fahad Football Stadium
Suspension Bridge
King Abdullah International Gardens Park
Al Nakheel Mall

Prince Sultan Uni
Al Ha’ir King Abdulaziz weather park

 

National Museum gardens are a wonderful area to walk around and enjoy the joyous Eid spirit. The garden landscape and architecture of the Museum make for the perfect place to enjoy a family picnic.

Nearby is the King Abdulaziz Historical Center folklore tent where traditional music, dances, poetry recital are performed. There’s also a small amusement park and water tower nearby.

What would Eid celebrations be without some traditional sword dances? The Eid festival at has traditional Saudi Arabian sword dances called “ardha’. For all the things you can do at Diriyah, check out this post: 10 Things do do in Historic Ad Diriyah

At the King AbdulaAziz Historical Center, the dance groups come from all over the Saudi Kingdom; Eastern Province, Jizan, Makkah and of course, the Najd Ardha dances! The dance performances are shown at the folklore tent on the first three days of Eid and start up around 5:30 pm continuing until after midnight.

The folklore tents also has poetry recital and it’s a great chance to listen to old Bedouin love songs played with the ‘Desert Violin’, the Rababah.

For a bird’s eye view of the King Abdulaziz Historical center festival area (and the best place to view the Eid fireworks show from), go up the water tower located inside the amusement park next to the National Museum!

The King Fahad Cultural Center is set on a beautiful location on the edge of Wadi Hanifa. The center offers various activities for women and children only. You can have beautiful henna done, taste delicious foods, watch traditional dances other shows.

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Laura

Hello there! I’m Laura, the founder of Blue Abaya- the first travel blog in Saudi Arabia, established in 2010.  Travel has always been my passion- so far I’ve visited 75 countries and I’m always on the lookout for new adventures inside and outside of Saudi Arabia! Follow my adventures in Saudi and beyond on instagram: instagram.com/blueabaya

www.blueabaya.com