RIYADH: The Qiddiya Investment Co. (QIC) partnered with the Saudi Climbing and Hiking Federation and the Masarat Adventure Club to organize the Tuwaiq Mountains Challenge.
The trek, which started at 7 a.m. on Saturday and ended at 4 p.m., was the first in a series of events organized by the federation.
The challenge, which included more than 100 hikers, involved a 25-km trek through the majestic Tuwaiq mountain range.
The federation’s chairman, Prince Bandar bin Khaled, expressed his excitement in partnering with the QIC and the Masarat Adventure Club to organize the hike.
“Our ancestors traveled through the Tuwaiq Mountains for trade and to hunt, and that inspired us to organize the challenge,” he said.
Promoting the importance of physical fitness as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform plan is one of the objectives of the federation, he added.
The experienced hikers were followed closely by drone cameras and an in-car camera team that captured the adventure.
Ten QIC staff members took part in the trek, led by Almamoun Alshingiti, the company’s executive director for sports development, who expressed his pleasure at its continued expansion of partnerships with local agencies.
“One of the priorities of the QIC is to cultivate productive and meaningful relationships with the local community,” he said.
“We are committed to collaborating with organizations like Masarat and the Saudi Climbing and Hiking Federation to give adventurers access to Qiddiya’s impressive site,” he added.
“We look forward to many more events with these groups … as we seek to expand the entertainment, recreation and leisure opportunities available in the Kingdom.”
Qiddiya is one of three Saudi giga-projects, on top of Neom and the Red Sea project, launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The project targets local, regional and international tourists and will be Saudi Arabia’s pre-eminent entertainment, sports and cultural destination that embodies the Saudi identity.
It is expected to be the world’s largest entertainment city by 2030, with a total area of 334 square kilometers, surpassing Walt Disney World in Florida, which is only 110 sq. km.
Qiddiya is 40km away from the center of Riyadh city. It bears the name of the area, and it has spectacular views of mountains, valleys and desert views. The presence of this tourist destination near the largest Saudi city in terms of population will allow it to target eight million visitors from around Riyadh and about 45 million visitors from the Arabian Gulf region.
The youth demographic will be the main contributor to Qiddiya’s success since two-thirds of the Saudi population is under the age of 35.
Therefore, the project aims to satisfy the recreational, social and cultural needs of the country’s current and future generations.
More than 100 hikers take part in Tuwaiq Mountains Challenge
More than 100 hikers take part in Tuwaiq Mountains Challenge
- Qiddiya is one of three Saudi giga-projects, on top of Neom and the Red Sea project, launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Is sourdough Saudi Arabia’s latest craft food?
- Saudi home bakers point to a practice that was once routine, not artisanal
- Naturally fermented bread reflects a broader shift toward process-driven, premium food culture
ALKHOBAR: Sourdough has started to shift from a niche interest into a mainstream feature of home kitchens, cafes and specialty bakeries across the Kingdom.
The rise of sourdough is part of a wider shift in Saudi Arabia’s food landscape, where artisanal production and slower preparation methods are gaining traction.
Specialty coffee seems to have set the early template for this transition, normalizing premium pricing, craftsmanship and an interest in process.
Bread is now undergoing a similar shift, with fermentation replacing extraction and roasting as the central point of differentiation.
In both cases, the appeal is rooted in the product’s perceived authenticity, reduced additives, and a clearer link between raw ingredients and final consumption.
Home bakers in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province have adapted natural yeast cultures to the Saudi environment, adjusting feeding schedules, hydration ratios, and fermentation times to accommodate higher temperatures and lower humidity in the summer months.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Home bakers in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province have adapted natural yeast cultures to the Saudi environment.
• They adjust feeding schedules, hydration ratios, and fermentation times to accommodate higher temperatures and lower humidity in the summer months.
Cafes and specialty bakeries have responded by adding sourdough loaves, baguettes and focaccia to their menus, often positioned as premium alternatives to conventional commercial bread.
For younger home bakers, the appeal lies in the craft and the learning curve rather than nostalgia. “It feels more real and more intentional,” home baker Sarah Al-Almaei told Arab News. She began experimenting with natural yeast at home after watching starter tutorials online.
The technical aspect — hydration percentages, fermentation control and starter maintenance — has become content in its own right, with TikTok and Instagram compressing trial-and-error learning into short videos and recipe cards.
But the practice of maintaining a natural yeast culture is not new in Saudi Arabia. Long before sourdough became a global trend, Saudi households kept what was commonly referred to as the “mother dough,” a natural yeast starter fed and used daily.
“We used to maintain it every day and bake with it,” said Hessa Al-Otaibi, 56, a Saudi home baker with more than four decades’ experience. “People today call it sourdough. For us, it was simply bread.”
Her comment highlights a cultural continuity that has remained largely unrecognized, partly because the practice was not framed as artisanal or health-oriented, but as a routine household function.
The modern sourdough trend differs in its market positioning. While the older model was practical and domestic, the current model is commercial, aesthetic and often health-coded. Bakeries justify higher pricing through longer fermentation times, higher ingredient costs and smaller batch production.
Consumers justify their purchases through digestibility, perceived health benefits, flavor and product integrity.
“Once you get used to it, it’s hard to go back,” said Amina Al-Zahrani, a regular buyer of sourdough from specialty bakeries in Alkhobar.
Digestibility and texture are often cited as reasons for substitution, especially among buyers who report discomfort from standard commercial bread.
Another consumer, Majda Al-Ansari, says sourdough has become part of her weekly routine, noting that availability and quality have improved significantly in the past year.
The social media component has played an outsized role in accelerating adoption. Home bakers document starter feeding cycles, cold proofing and first bakes, turning a once-private domestic process into visible public content.
This has also created micro-markets of home-based sellers, where individual bakers offer loaves to local buyers, often fulfilling orders through direct messaging.
What remains to be seen is how far the trend will scale. If specialty bakeries continue to expand and consumers maintain willingness to pay premium prices, sourdough could establish a long-term place in Saudi food culture.
If not, it may revert to a smaller niche of committed home bakers and specialty cafes. For now, however, sourdough occupies an unusual position: both a newly fashionable trend and a quiet continuation of an older Saudi baking practice.
