For agencies with Saudi clients, the next six months are crowded. A ten-week Riyadh Season, two national days and the start of Ramadan all land before the end of March. Some of it is confirmed, some has not been announced, and one widely listed event is not happening this year.
Riyadh Season 2026
The seventh Riyadh Season opens on Wednesday 21 October 2026 and runs for ten weeks, under the slogan Big Time. Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, announced it in a video reported by Gulf News and TradeArabia. The zones named so far are Boulevard World, which adds Netherlands, Portugal and Yemen pavilions, Boulevard City, Wonder Garden, The Groves, the Farmers' Market and the Ana Arabia exhibition at VIA Riyadh. The programme includes boxing, wrestling, UFC, the Six Kings Slam tennis event, concerts, theatre and comedy. The end date and full zone list had not been published by early October. For scale, last year's edition opened on 10 October 2025 and passed 11 million visitors by the end of December.
The dates
- Founding Day, 22 February: an official holiday since a royal order of January 2022, marking the founding of the First Saudi State in 1727. In 2027 it falls on a Monday.
- Flag Day, 11 March: set by royal order in March 2023, marking King Abdulaziz's approval of the flag in 1937. It is not on the official holiday list. In 2027 it is a Thursday.
- Ramadan 2027: expected to start around 8 February, with Eid al-Fitr around 9 or 10 March. These are astronomical estimates, and the official dates depend on the moon sighting. If they hold, Founding Day falls in the middle of Ramadan.
- National Day, 23 September: the 96th was this year, under the identity Our Pride Lies in Our Nature, which came with approved logos and guidelines for government, private and non-profit use.
- The weekend is Friday and Saturday, as it has been since June 2013. Each Eid holiday runs to at least four and at most five working days under a January 2024 Council of Ministers decision, according to Saudipedia.
Sport and music
- The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is scheduled for Jeddah on 19 to 21 March 2027, the second round after Bahrain, on Formula 1's 2027 calendar. The 2026 race was cancelled in March because of the situation in the region, and coverage of the new calendar notes the Middle East rounds are still uncertain.
- MDLBEAST Soundstorm had been set for 3 and 4 December 2026. On 1 October FACT magazine reported, quoting the organisers, that this year's edition will not take place as planned and that they are focusing on 2027. Many listings still show the old dates.
- The Esports World Cup ran in Riyadh from 6 July to 23 August 2026 with a $75 million prize pool. It is the summer anchor to plan next year around.
Diriyah Season, Jeddah Season and AlUla's winter programme had not published dates for 2026 to 2027 when we checked. Jeddah Season returned this summer after a year's break.
The rules on national symbols
This is where Saudi campaigns most often go wrong. Interior Ministry guidance, reported by Gulf News, says the flag must never be used commercially or in a trademark, nothing may be printed on it, and it must not touch the ground or water. A Ministry of Commerce circular in 2022 banned the flag in commercial promotions, publications, goods, gifts and e-commerce, together with pictures and names of leaders and officials. A ministerial decision in November 2024 extended the ban to national symbols and to religious or sectarian symbols in products, ads, packaging and gifts. The flag carries the declaration of faith and is never flown at half-mast.
For National Day and Founding Day work, the safe route is the official identity and its guidelines rather than the flag.
What to plan now
- Book Riyadh Season activations and creator content from late October.
- Plan Founding Day creative on the basis that it may fall during Ramadan, and keep it respectful of both.
- Treat Soundstorm and any undated season as unconfirmed until the organisers publish dates.
- Brief every designer and creator on the symbol rules before national day work starts.
- If the client runs discounts, Saudi stores need a Ministry of Commerce licence for each sale period.
The GCC marketing calendar on this site lists the main dates across the Gulf for planning.
