The Fridge entertainment firm, established in Dubai by South African businesswoman Shelley Frost, is putting on an entertaining show for music and cultural fans and highlighting the talent of the Kingdom in accordance with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
The company recently put together a cultural program for Diriyah Nights, which is a part of Diriyah Season and runs through February 22. The occasion provides a venue for both established and up-and-coming Saudi and regional artists to exhibit their work.
The managing director stated in an interview with Arab News that “During recent years, the growth of the culture and entertainment ecosystem in Saudi Arabia has been meteoric and it is evolving into a leading destination very quickly within the Middle East. That is very much thanks to the visionary initiatives of the Saudi government and the massive social transformation that has catapulted the Kingdom into this new era.”
The Red Sea International Film Festival hired Frost’s company to provide entertainment program consultation, and it has been working on Saudi Arabian events for the past three years. She stated that Diriyah Season is special because of its location in the heart of the historic district. “Two-hundred-year-old palm trees have been brought to life in around two months, with over 20,000 lights. This is a real return to celebrating heritage in a place that is quite organic,” she said. “I see Diriyah as the heartbeat of the nation, where the integrity, the values … the nation were born.”
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, in Dhahran, a series of orchestral events in Neom, and entertainment for the dining experience Awna at Hegra are all part of The Fridge’s larger Saudi portfolio.
“There is an extremely positive momentum and I think that the future is extremely bright (for Saudi Arabia),” she said. “There’s no sign of things slowing down. We’re going to see that continuing on an upward trajectory through the coming years. You know the Vision 2030 in terms of national strategy is extremely clear, and the entertainment market has been earmarked to play a very large role in that.”
“There is a huge focus on Saudi and regional talent and that is very strongly felt,” she said. “It is already a very, very large part of our bookings and our programming.”