DAMMAM: Families across three cities in Saudi Arabia left their devices at home and ventured out for in-person Netflix events.

The first event was held in Riyadh on Dec. 4, followed by Abha on Dec. 12 and finally, in Dammam on Friday.

Arab News spoke to two families who attended and expressed gratitude for the experience.

A native of India who has called Saudi Arabia home for the last 13 years, Nithya VijayaBhaskar was excited to return to the park after having not visited since COVID time.

“Today the climate is too cool, but they kept the heaters,” she told Arab News. “They have wonderful, wonderful seating arrangements and free popcorn for kids and so many games.

“I’m standing in the queue right now — it’s a long queue because people are very excited about it. It’s a 10 out of 10 experience.”

Her daughter, Boomika, 11, told Arab News that while she’s seen the film before, watching it outdoors with friends — and strangers — was a completely new and welcomed experience.

“I really like this event; it has so many activities. I’m in the line for face-painting now,” she said.

Her father, VijayaBhaskar Mohan, added: “This is the first time we are experiencing such a thing in the Eastern Province, and Netflix has organized it very, very well, and they have considered many things about the parents, the children, the elderly — I am really amazed.

“And even though it’s a very cold weather, it is amazingly that in the open area, I feel very comfortable.”

Their friends, the Shetty family, joined them.

“The location is really good and the park seems really nice,” 10-year-old Shreyan Shetty said.

His mother, Deepti Laxman, liked that the children were out and about — not glued to their devices at home on a day off from school.

“We got a reference from one of our friends (the VijayaBhaskar family), we are huge fans of Netflix — and they said ‘Netflix is coming, let’s go!’ We live a 20-minutes drive away.

“We’re really enjoying. The ambience is good. And people are really happy. They should do more of these activities here,” Laxman said.

Her husband, Shivaraj Shetty, enjoyed the overall experience but had one piece of feedback for the Netflix team on the ground: “Probably they can plan it a month earlier next time; it’s very chilly, cold air. Maybe they should make it in October.”

The family movie nights organized by the streaming giant centered on togetherness and the joy of shared entertainment.

Every event was free and open to the public with prior registration, with each community event set in a living room feel with themed games and creative zones where children and parents could gather around and connect.

On the night of the Dammam event at Life Park, previously known as King Fahd Park, temperatures dropped but enthusiasm was high. There were two showings of a children’s film, one at 6 pm and one at 9 pm.

The large screen played a children’s film in Arabic with English subtitles.

The lines to enter were long but the team managed to add more seating and accommodate every interested visitor.

Huddled in distributed blankets, families sat and sipped Saudi coffee and either watched the movie or kept their hands warm by doing things such as assembling the puzzle given as a gift on the tables provided.

To the side were various activities and plenty of snacks.

There was also a spot dedicated to guiding guardians on parental control options within their logged-in Netflix accounts, so streaming could be even safer for young viewers.