By Timour Azhari
Oct 4 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is set to cancel next year’s Joy Awards, its star-studded answer to the Oscars or the Grammys, as financial strain and the Iran war hit the country’s nascent entertainment sector, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Held in January, the event has become the crown jewel of Riyadh’s annual events calendar, drawing performers including Katy Perry and Robbie Williams this year and handing out awards in music as well as other areas of entertainment and sport.
It is the latest high-profile entertainment event to face cancellation or postponement as Riyadh reprioritizes spending and cuts culture and entertainment budgets.
A spokesperson for the General Entertainment Authority, which organizes the Joy Awards along with Saudi media conglomerate MBC Group, did not respond to a request for comment. MBC Group and the Saudi government’s media office also did not respond to requests for comment.
Industry sources say budget cuts were already felt before the Iran war, which has undermined Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to turn the kingdom into a destination for tourism and global events under his ambitious Vision 2030 plan.
Flagship projects scaled back or indefinitely postponed over the last year or so include the 100-mile (161 km) steel and glass tower The Line at megacity NEOM, and a $50 billion steel and metal cube in Riyadh. The government has also withdrawn funding from ventures such as LIV Golf, after spending over $5 billion on the startup, and is now quietly shelving plans to build the NEOM Stadium, one of the main projects for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, two sources familiar with the matter said.
“The war and its wider ripple effects are inevitably prompting Gulf states to reassess spending priorities,” said Mazen Hayek, a Dubai-based media consultant.
“It’s not simply a question of whether governments have the financial capacity to fund such initiatives. Some of these events were also conceived as instruments of international visibility, soft power and influence. In the current environment, however, governments may be weighing those objectives against other national priorities,” he said.
FILM FESTIVAL, DESERT RAVE ALSO CANCELLED
Last month, the Red Sea Film Festival was postponed until 2027, with organizers citing logistical constraints and other factors. Uncertainty over the Iran war has also made it difficult to book international stars for such events, the industry sources said.
The Red Sea Film Festival was launched in 2021 as part of an effort to develop local cinema after Saudi Arabia lifted a decades-long ban on cinemas.
Last month, organizers also called off Soundstorm, a city-sized rave in the desert due to be held in December that welcomes hundreds of thousands of partygoers and was headlined by Cardi B last year. Organizers said it would return next year, giving no reason for the cancellation.
Soundstorm, also known as MDLBEAST, began in 2019 as new events were staged amid rapid social change under the crown prince, widely known as MbS, whose reforms sought to rein in the power of religious conservatives.
With gender-mixing, dancing and displays of queer culture, the festival often drew the ire of religious conservatives and stunned even some of those who support other aspects of the kingdom’s social opening.
Events aimed at driving investment into the kingdom, such as the flagship Future Investment Initiative (FII) taking place at the end of this month, remain scheduled as planned, according to organizers.
“Events that are important for the Saudi economy and showing its place in the world are still being prioritised; what isn’t is anything that is singing and dancing and having a good time,” a person working in the Saudi events industry said.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Susan Fenton)
