Ancient Kingdoms Festival 2025 Strengthens AlUla’s Status As A World-Class Destination For Heritage And Discovery

AlUla’s Ancient Kingdoms Festival has successfully concluded its 2025 edition, marking its most ambitious programme to date, and reinforcing its position as one of the region’s leading history and heritage events. Several marquee experiences will remain open beyond the festival period, extending its impact into early 2026.

Celebrating more than 7,000 years of human history under the theme Journeys Through Time, this year’s festival presented an expanded calendar of heritage-inspired experiences, live performances, installations, and interactive programming across AlUla’s most iconic sites, including Hegra, Dadan, Jabal Ikmah and AlUla Old Town. Through creativity, technology and immersive storytelling, the festival continued its mission to connect audiences with the rich legacies of the region’s ancient civilisations.

Festival Highlights

A number of festival favourites returned alongside new additions curated for residents, domestic visitors, and international cultural travellers.

The award-winning Hegra Drone Show – Stories from the Sky once again stood out as a signature highlight. Combining projection mapping, soundscape design and synchronised drone formations, the show brought Nabataean history to life in a breathtaking large-scale spectacle. Winner of Best Entertainment Production at the 2025 Saudi Event Awards, it drew many visitors across multiple evenings.

In AlUla Old Town, the Old Town Escape House introduced a theatrical, puzzle-based experience set inside a restored mudbrick home. Inspired by AlUla’s oral histories and local folklore, guests were challenged to uncover clues and stories tied to the community’s cultural memory.

Night-time programming continued to captivate audiences through Secrets of the Scribe – Ikmah After Dark and Hegra After Dark. These immersive experiences combined storytelling, performance and hands-on discovery in the spectacular landscapes of these historic sites. Meanwhile, the Incense Road Experience offered a rich, multi-sensory retelling of AlUla’s historic role as a crossroads of ancient trade and cultural exchange, whilst celebrating continued cultural heritage

To meet visitor demand, several marquee experiences will continue beyond the festival period, including:

Secrets of the Scribe – Ikmah After Dark (until 14 February 2026)
Hegra After Dark (until 14 February 2026)
Old Town Escape House (until 23 May 2026)
The Incense Road Experience (until 26 June 2026)
As part of its community focus, an expanded Schools Engagement Week took place, underscoring the festival’s commitment to community engagement. Over 100 students from across AlUla participated in hands-on workshops, archaeological learning sessions and cultural activities designed to inspire the next generation and deepen local knowledge of heritage and history.

Rami Al Mouallim, Vice President of Destination Management at the Royal Commission for AlUla, said: “The Ancient Kingdoms Festival continues to grow in ambition, depth and impact. This year’s programme not only honoured AlUla’s extraordinary heritage, but also introduced new ways for audiences to engage with our stories, our discoveries and our landscapes. As we conclude this edition, we are proud of how the festival has sparked curiosity, strengthened community connection, and deepened global appreciation for AlUla’s cultural legacy. While the festival comes to a close, the knowledge, experiences and discoveries it has revealed will continue to resonate.”

Coinciding with the festival period, AlUla also marked the public opening of ‘Illuminating Discoveries, Uncovering the Layers of Dadan’s History’, a new permanent exhibition at the Dadan Visitor Centre. Featuring more than one hundred artefacts revealed through five years of excavation, the exhibition deepens public access to one of North Arabia’s most important archaeological sites and reinforces AlUla’s growing position as a global centre for heritage research.

AlUla Moments Calendar Continues

Following the Ancient Kingdoms Festival, the AlUla Moments 2025/26 Calendar continues with Winter at Tantora, the destination’s flagship cultural festival, followed by a vibrant programme of world-class events including the AlUla Tour, AlUla Trail Race, AlUla Desert Polo and the AlUla Arts Festival, which returns with its most ambitious edition to date. Meanwhile, globally recognised artists will headline the Maraya Classical Concert Series, adding to the rich and diverse cultural landscape that defines AlUla.

Together, these events offer an unparalleled cultural journey, inviting visitors from around the world to discover AlUla’s extraordinary heritage, creativity and natural beauty.

To explore upcoming events and plan your AlUla experience, please visit experiencealula.com.