RIYADH: Diriyah Season’s “Souk Wonders,” featuring trampolines, circus acrobatics, musical entertainment, balancing acts, and a variety of culinary experiences will come to a close on Friday.
“We have been doing it for a month now and we have done 33 shows and it’s been amazing — honestly, I love it here and I am really sad for it to be over,” Ghada Sheri, a singer and songwriter, told Arab News.
“I get to sing to people every day and see their reactions and I share the stage with amazing performers as well so that has been amazing,” she said.
“Souk Wonders” features traditional Najdi architecture, tents, a majlis, and an oversized marketplace scale that spins as guests are seated on it.
The performances kick off with a daring show featuring performers jumping off the edges of the traditional Najdi structures towards the crowd and onto a trampoline.
The routines come back-to-back, leaving audience members anticipating which way to turn next.
Carina Pires, a nurse from Portugal, has lived in the Kingdom for 12 years, and attended “Souk Wonders” with her friends.
“It’s been amazing. We have just been mesmerized. We don’t know where to look, it’s been so many things with so many emotions, it’s really good,” Pires told Arab News.
“It was amazing, I have been experiencing things here that I didn’t in my country,” she added.
When asked what her favorite part of the show was, Pires said: “Everything was amazing, I cannot point to one, it was everything.”
A unique feature of “Souk Wonders” is the currency. Although real money can be used, visitors are taken back in time as they are presented with gold Diriyah Season coins to make their purchases.
For example, a water bottle would cost guests 1 coin, with each coin valued at SR5 ($1.33). A regular ticket gives visitors 18 coins, and the platinum ticket allows for 24.
Along with live performances, “Souk Wonders” has restaurant and cafe booths that feature unique dishes that pay tribute to traditional flavors with modern-day twists all crafted by Saudi chefs especially brought in to design the menu for the event.
Saudi chef Samira Jan was the mind behind the Sand of Zaatar booth, featuring flavors from the Levant region, including a Palestinian musakhan tart as well as a sweet Syrian basbousa tart.
Other Saudi-crafted creations included soft drinks and mixed mocktails at Al Bar booth.
One unique feature of “Souk Wonders” is the interactive performances from the actors of the who remained in character throughout whilst interacting with guests.
“Souk Wonders” will put on its final shows on Feb. 28 at 7:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. and then at 10:45 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. in Venue before coming to a close for Ramadan.
