Saudi Arabia’s flagship celebration of creativity took centre stage on the French Riviera this week, as industry leaders gathered in Cannes to unveil plans for the 2026 Athar Festival and reinforce the Kingdom’s growing ambition to become a global centre for creative industries.
Hosted in parallel with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Athar Breakfast brought together international communications professionals, brand leaders and agency executives for the official launch of this year’s festival, which will take place in Riyadh on 24 and 25 November, culminating in the Athar Awards on 25 November. The networking event was hosted by Ian Fairservice, Chairman of Athar Festival and Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group, together with Mohamed Al Ayed, Vice Chairman of Athar Festival and Chief Executive Officer of TRACCS (pictured above).
The Cannes event forms part of Athar’s wider strategy to internationalise the festival and encourage greater participation from creative professionals around the world. Speaking to Saudi Arabia for Elites, Al Ayed explained that Athar has evolved rapidly since its launch in Riyadh just three years ago.
“Athar is the Saudi Festival of Creativity, and Athar translates as ‘impact’,” he said. “The whole idea was to create a festival that showcases Saudi creativity and creates a whole movement around creativity.”
The festival, he explained, is built around three guiding principles.
“We celebrate the past, challenge the present and co-create the future. These are the three hallmarks of the festival.”
Taking Saudi creativity to the world
For Al Ayed, Cannes provides the ideal platform to introduce international audiences to the Kingdom’s rapidly evolving creative landscape.
“Part of our mission is to globalise the festival and bring people from around the world to understand and learn about Saudi creativity,” he explained. “We’ve been organising this breakfast every year in Cannes as a platform for people to learn more about Athar.”
That international outlook reflects broader changes taking place across Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030, where creativity has become an increasingly important pillar of economic diversification.
“Saudi is powered by Vision 2030, and one of its key drivers is creativity,” Al Ayed said. “Around 70% of our population is under the age of 35, and creativity is a very important part of the Saudi fabric—whether it’s business, society or community.”
He believes creativity has become fundamental to the Kingdom’s international identity.
“Saudi Arabia is becoming more of a global brand, and when you become global you also have to export your creative side.”
Perhaps most strikingly, he described creativity as an essential ingredient of national development.
“A country that loses its creative side loses its inquisitive society. Creativity is what pushes boundaries, pushes agendas and creates understanding and human connection.”
Building bridges with France
The launch in Cannes came just days after Al Ayed participated in Vision Golfe 2026 in Paris, where he joined a panel discussion on cultural diplomacy alongside representatives from TV5MONDE, Atout France, France Muséums and Novelty.
The discussion explored the growing role of culture and creativity in strengthening economic and diplomatic relationships between France and the Gulf region.
Reflecting on those conversations, Al Ayed emphasised the importance of France as both a longstanding economic partner and a source of creative inspiration.
“France is a big trade partner of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf,” he said. “There is tremendous influence from French culture, French cuisine and French haute couture.”
He believes that collaboration between French and Saudi creative industries will continue to deepen.
“One of the things we want to encourage is working closely with France and having France as one of our important partners in the festival.”
His comments echoed those made during Vision Golfe by Her Royal Highness Princess Noura bint Faisal Al Saud, who spoke of the growing importance of creative industries throughout the Middle East and their role in supporting economic diversification, entrepreneurship and cultural exchange.
Creativity as economic diplomacy
Athar has evolved well beyond a traditional advertising conference.
The festival now brings together leaders from marketing, communications, luxury, tourism, technology, film, artificial intelligence, gaming, start-ups, venture capital and higher education, reflecting the increasingly interconnected nature of today’s creative economy.
For Saudi Arabia, this convergence mirrors the ambitions of Vision 2030, where creativity is recognised not simply as an artistic pursuit but as a driver of innovation, investment and international competitiveness.
The festival also creates tangible commercial opportunities.
Al Ayed pointed to one example involving the UK’s Advertising Association, which began collaborating with Athar during an earlier edition of the festival.
“We actually believe there were about five joint ventures and memorandums of understanding created between UK advertising agencies and Saudi companies,” he said.
“The whole idea is facilitating trade, facilitating creative trade and facilitating the creative economy.”
Riyadh prepares for another record year
Since its inaugural edition in 2023, attendance has grown from around 1,000 delegates to more than 3,000, making Athar the largest festival of creativity in the Arab world. This year’s organisers are aiming even higher.
“Last year we welcomed over 3,000 delegates, of which around 1,000 came from outside Saudi Arabia,” Al Ayed said. “This year we’re expecting more than 3,000 people and we’re shooting for 4,000.”
The festival is also expanding its programme significantly, with between 200 and 230 speakers expected to participate across the two-day event.
“Eventually we want 50% of our delegates to come from outside Saudi Arabia,” Al Ayed revealed. “We want to continue growing inside the Kingdom because it’s a huge market, but we also want to grow internationally.”
Al Ayed believes the momentum is already building.
“There’s a big appetite for creativity. There’s a big appetite for Saudi Arabia. We want to make sure that continues to develop.”
As Saudi Arabia continues to invest heavily in culture, design, tourism, entertainment and innovation, Athar has rapidly become one of the Kingdom’s most influential platforms for showcasing its creative ambitions. The launch in Cannes demonstrated that the festival’s focus is no longer solely on celebrating Saudi creativity—it is also about inviting the world to become part of it.
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