Boulevard City, the car-free district that hosts Riyadh Season's main stages.
When Fadel Chaker sang "Ya Ghayeb," which means "O Absent One," the arena sang it back to him word for word.
The Lebanese singer had been off the stage for 14 years. "I was dreaming of this moment during my darkest days," he told the crowd in Riyadh.
Twelve days earlier, Houthi missiles hit the city's main airport, killing 13 people and wounding more than 300.
That's Riyadh this autumn. Interceptors streak overhead most nights. Phone alerts tell residents to stay indoors. And the kingdom's biggest festival is carrying on, in a thinner, quieter form than planned.
Riyadh Season is the 10-week festival at the centre of Saudi Arabia's push to build an entertainment economy. It opened on schedule on Oct. 21, while the airport was still shut.
The season has always relied mostly on residents and on Saudis travelling in from other cities, and some of that home crowd is still turning out. What has thinned is the international layer: the foreign visitors, global acts and headline events meant to put Riyadh on the world's entertainment map.
Tonight is one of the few marquee nights still standing. Mexican boxing star Canelo Alvarez steps into the ring at Boulevard City for a world title, with missile alerts still going off across the city.
Some nights still sell
Tickets for Chaker's first night sold out in less than an hour, according to Lebanon's Al Jadeed. Organisers added a second night, then a third show in Khobar with his son Mohammad.
At the 7,000-seat arena, father and son sang "Keefak A Fraqi" together. Kuwaiti singer Nawal joined Chaker for a reunion, two decades after their duet "Ahawel."
At Boulevard City, the car-free district that hosts the season's main stages, families walked past a replica of Times Square. Children rode trackless trains with reindeer-themed carriages, the Los Angeles Times reported this week.
Boulevard City director Hassan Albar told the paper that "something like 27,000 people" came through.
"Death only comes once," Jamil Mohammad, an occupational therapist at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse, told the LA Times. "I'm not going to let it stop me living my life."
The guests who stayed home
King Khalid International Airport was closed for about two weeks. It partly reopened on Oct. 25, with two terminals and only Saudi carriers on international routes.
Cathay Pacific has suspended its Riyadh flights through January. The U.S. rates Saudi Arabia at Level 3: "Reconsider Travel."
The Future Investment Initiative, known as Davos in the Desert, was due to hold its 10th edition this week. It has been pushed to next year.
The Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition, featuring Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, was meant to open the season. It moved to Dec. 27-30.
Cancellations of Saudi short-term rentals rose a further 30% after Oct. 6, according to AirDNA data cited by Skift.
Hotels were struggling even before the latest attacks. Riyadh's occupancy fell 9.2 percentage points to 47.6% in the year to June, and revenue per available room dropped 23.2%, according to global property consultancy JLL. More than half the city's rooms sat empty.
What's off the calendar
The cancellations have hit the events built to pull in foreign visitors.
MDLBEAST's Soundstorm, the December dance festival that has brought Bruno Mars and Post Malone to Riyadh, won't take place this year. Organisers gave no reason and said it will return in 2027.
Saudi Arabia is also set to cancel next January's Joy Awards, its star-studded answer to the Oscars and the Grammys, Reuters reported, citing budget cuts and the war. The Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah has been pushed to late 2027.
Why the lights stay on
Entertainment is meant to be one of the kingdom's next growth engines. A Ministry of Investment report targets the sector at 4.2% of GDP by 2030.
The timing is tight. The government now expects a deficit of 245 billion riyals ($65 billion) this year and a 3.6% contraction in GDP, according to the Finance Ministry's pre-budget statement.
General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh has made the season's message plain. "Hard times reveal true friends," he posted on X on Oct. 11.
Tonight's test
Tonight, Canelo Alvarez (63-3-2) faces unbeaten Christian Mbilli (29-0-1) for the WBC super middleweight title at The Venue in Boulevard City.
The undercard starts at about 8:45pm Riyadh time, and the main event is due around midnight.
Alalshikh said the Mexican champion told him he would fight "no matter what happens." WWE Crown Jewel is still advertised for Nov. 7, though WWE has reportedly discussed a backup venue in the U.S.
"When you're here, everything feels normal," Ankid Abishaikh, 34, told the LA Times at Boulevard City.
Outside the gates, the daily phone alerts haven't stopped.
