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By Layan Damanhouri
RIYADH — The one-of-a-kind carnival dubbed Wonderland Riyadh, launched for the first time here, seeks to fill a gap in the entertainment scene in Saudi Arabia, its organizer told Saudi Gazette.
“We realized most Saudi families’ fun memories are abroad,” said Mishael Alrasheed, president of the organizing committee at Benya, an event planning company established last year.
“Rarely do they have an opportunity to go out here as a family and enjoy quality entertainment. We decided to create our own memories through this quality event.”
Riyadh Wonderland is a fair taking place at the stadium of the Princess Nourah University’s campus where an attendance capacity of up to 20,000 visitors can enjoy shows and over 100 booths of live cooking, art stations, food trucks, games for children, and marketplace where local entrepreneurs sell arts and crafts.
Circus shows hosting European performers have attracted thousands of visitors in addition to folklore shows.
Riyadh residents have been anticipating the event long before its launch in February. “Our marketing strategy was teaser-like to entice people to attend months before the event,” says Aljohara Alsadhan, member of marketing team of Wonderland.
The event also serves as an opportunity to boost their business for tens of local food trucks run by Saudi youth. “Food trucks are now on demand,” said Abdulrahman Bin Khalid, who partnered with three friends to found Wings Wings, a brand new food truck business selling chicken wings and sliders.
“The cost of setting up a food truck is less than a restaurant. It’s working successfully so far and our goal is to move to a restaurant in the future.”
Salman Alhemaidi, another food truck owner, said events such as these offer more exposure for food trucks than restaurants. “Our prices are similar to restaurant chains but food trucks get to participate in these events,” he added.
Their business, Pizza Guys, is a food truck selling wood-fired pizza founded by four university students who wanted to use their spare time to work on a business. “We worked from A to Z on the business from the design to the pizza recipe which took 5 to 6 months to prepare.”
The entrance tickets per person start from SR150. The event was extended to Tuesday after halting it for a couple of days due to rainy weather.
