Musical Evenings, Theatrical Performances and International Operas at Riyadh Front

The Saudi Ministry of Culture is organizing a variety of artistic and musical events and cultural activities, from March 20-31. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Ministry of Culture is organizing a variety of artistic and musical events and cultural activities, from March 20-31. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Musical Evenings, Theatrical Performances and International Operas at Riyadh Front

The Saudi Ministry of Culture is organizing a variety of artistic and musical events and cultural activities, from March 20-31. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Ministry of Culture is organizing a variety of artistic and musical events and cultural activities, from March 20-31. (Photo: Asharq Al-Awsat)

Within an initiative by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, the Riyadh Front is hosting musical evenings and theatrical and opera performances, featuring a number of contemporary artists and unique creative experiences.

The ministry is organizing a variety of artistic and musical events and cultural activities, from March 20-31, under the Quality of Life Program, one of the projects of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The events include a 3-D hologram display of a concert by famed artist Whitney Houston. The show embodies a glimpse of her life and her most important artistic contribution.

The events will also see a performance by one of the world’s greatest opera composers, Jose Carreras, in addition to an Arab Philharmonic Music evening with Syrian artist Rasha Rizk, who will be accompanied by 46 musicians from the International Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Algerian Maestro Amine Koueider, in a hall that can accommodate more than 1,400 people.

Moreover, the culture square of the Riyadh Front will also host two of the most prominent works of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the “Swan Lake” ballet and “The Nutcracker” that was first performed in 1892.

Visitors will have a unique experience in watching musical and dance performances, including “Inspiration” and “The Jazz Story,” as well as a number of Broadway musicals.

The Riyadh Front events come as part of a program by the Ministry of Culture to enrich the local scene with diverse artistic content, and to enhance the Kingdom’s cultural life.

The initiative aims to present various creative and unique experiences to the widest segment of the public, thus raising the level of creative dialogue and exchange among fans of arts and culture in the Kingdom.



Iraq Sandstorm Closes Airports, Puts 3,700 People in Hospital 

A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Iraq Sandstorm Closes Airports, Puts 3,700 People in Hospital 

A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)
A wheelchair-bound person is assisted by others to cross to a traffic island in the middle of a road in low visibility conditions amidst a massive dust storm in Iraq's southern city of Basra on April 14, 2025. (AFP)

A sandstorm swept through Iraq, filling the air with choking dust that closed airports and put more than 3,700 people in hospital with breathing difficulties, the health ministry said Tuesday.

Visibility fell to less than one kilometer (barely half a mile) in central and southern cities as the storm cloaked the region in an eerie orange haze, AFP photographers reported.

Basra and Najaf airports both closed for the duration of the storm, which began to dissipate on Tuesday morning.

Health ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said Basra was the worst-hit province, accounting for more than 1,000 of the 3,747 hospital admissions attributed to the sandstorm.

Many of those who dared to venture out in Basra wore face masks to protect themselves from the choking dust, an AFP photographer reported.

Sandstorms are a perennial feature of life in central and southern Iraq but the environment ministry has warned the country can expect to suffer a rising number of "dust days" in coming decades due to the impact of global warming.

A heavy sandstorm in 2022 saw one person die and more than 5,000 treated in hospital for breathing difficulties.