Fourth annual Winter at Tantora Festival opened on Thursday; marks the beginning of planting season in AlUla

Winter at Tantora has its roots in a generations-old annual cultural event to mark the start of the season. ‘Tantora’ refers to a sundial in the form of an obelisk located in the southeastern part of AlUla, the main function of which is to determine the beginning of the seasons, and to enable regulation of the distribution of spring water to farms. The fourth annual Winter at Tantora Festival opened on Thursday, with visitors from all over the world witnessing a live vocal performance by more than 200 performers to mark the beginning of planting season in AlUla.

The opening-day events included traditional folkloric performances and a multimedia exhibition of Tantora history displayed on the walls of old buildings and narrated in Arabic and English. The celebration included a live orchestra performing a blend of local and regional music. Locally harvested produce was available at the exhibition and dozens of traditional Saudi coffee pots decorated the entrance, partly to mark the Saudi Year of Coffee.

The festival’s opening night concluded with an outdoor performance of “Shurfat AlJadidah” by the Saudi National Music Band, which included members of the Saudi Choir singing cover versions of songs by Saudi music legends of the Nineties and a selection of other classic Arabic songs, as well as some operatic numbers. Winter at Tantora runs until Jan. 21.