Art & Culture

The Ancient Kingdoms Festival Returns to AlUla

BYZamzam Rage

November 23, 2025

By the time November rolls into AlUla, the desert has already begun its slow transformation. Days turn gold, nights cool down just enough to feel like velvet against the skin, and the sandstone cliffs start catching the light the way they did thousands of years ago, long before the world could name them. It’s the kind of landscape that never needed a storyteller; but has always been the story. And somehow, every winter, AlUla lets you step into it.

From November 20 to 6 December, the Ancient Kingdoms Festival returns, stretching itself across the region like a living chronicle of trade routes, forgotten empires, and desert civilizations who once navigated the Incense Road by the glow of stars.

Here are some of the highlights.

Hegra Candlelit Classics

The festival opened at night, in Hegra, which is Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and home to monumental Nabataean tombs carved with the same precision and extravagance as Petra. Thousands of candles flickered against the rock faces, making the stone glow like embers. Yoshiki and Ibrahim Maalouf took the stage first, their music echoing into the desert like an invocation. The next evening, Jon Batiste and Lebanese vocalist Marilyne Naaman channeled something freer and warmer.

Hegra After Dark

Starting November 26, you won’t just look at Nabataean life, you’ll ride straight into it. Horse-drawn carriages lead visitors through a theatrical world where light, scent, and storytelling bleed into each other so seamlessly that time stops being linear. One minute you’re in 2025, the next you’re standing in the hush of an ancient marketplace, listening to the everyday sounds of a civilization long gone yet strangely familiar.

Stories from the Sky – Drone Show

When the desert night deepens, the sandstone becomes a screen and the sky becomes the narrator. Hundreds of illuminated drones rise over Hegra, sketching stories once passed through poetry, carvings, and memory. It’s not just a show — it’s a retelling of Arabian history using a medium that never existed for the people who lived it. Somehow, it still feels like something they would have imagined.

The Incense Road Experience

Down in Old Town, history becomes busy, crowded, and sensorial. You can smell the frankincense before you see it. Marketkeepers call out, storytellers whisper, musicians play melodies you swear you’ve heard somewhere before. This is where the ancient trade routes reveal themselves as more than lines on a map — they become human. And when you mix your own incense blend, you’re not making a souvenir. You’re replicating a ritual.

Secrets of the Scribe – Ikmah After Dark

New for 2025, but older than anything else in the lineup: a torchlit journey into Jabal Ikmah, where hundreds of inscriptions carve the memory of a civilisation into stone. You follow the footsteps — or rather, the clues — of an ancient scribe whose life left no biography except what’s etched into the rock. You finish the night with teas inspired by the Oasis and sweets grown from desert knowledge. It feels less like an activity and more like a quiet initiation.

Hegra Geology Hike

For those who want the earth to speak directly: three Saturdays, nine kilometres, nearly a billion years of geological history explained by Rawis and Rangers. You end with a special Geology of Hegra book in hand — a badge of honor for anyone who prefers rocks over riddles.

Awaken the Tales – Old Town Escape House

AlUla borrows the concept of an escape room and rewires it with folklore. You solve clues, decipher legends, and navigate myths the way historians decode evidence. It’s playful, challenging, and built for curious minds (ages 16+).

Hegra Children’s Tours

Meanwhile, smaller explorers get their own adventure — hands-on, full of secrets, led by local Rawis who turn history into treasure hunts.

The Ancient Kingdoms Festival Returns to AlUla

Hegra Candlelit Classics

Hegra After Dark

Stories from the Sky – Drone Show

The Incense Road Experience

Secrets of the Scribe – Ikmah After Dark

Hegra Geology Hike

Awaken the Tales – Old Town Escape House

Hegra Children’s Tours

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The Ancient Kingdoms Festival Returns to AlUla

Hegra Candlelit Classics

Hegra After Dark

Stories from the Sky – Drone Show

The Incense Road Experience

Secrets of the Scribe – Ikmah After Dark

Hegra Geology Hike

Awaken the Tales – Old Town Escape House

Hegra Children’s Tours

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