At a Glance

  • Date: 17 February 2025
  • Location: King Khalid Cultural Center – Buraidah

The "Kaleeja Festival 2025" closed its events after recording a record number of visitors exceeding 500,000 over 17 days of diverse events that combined entertainment, heritage and cuisine, further cementing the festival's standing as one of the Kingdom's most prominent national events.

From Local to Global

The festival has helped boost Buraidah's heritage identity, which led UNESCO to include the city among its Creative Cities Network in 2021. The kaleeja was also adopted as a signature dish of the Qassim region as part of the National Dishes Narratives initiative, and as a local baked good under the Creative Cities Gastronomy initiative.

Notable Economic and Tourism Success

The festival attracted more than 30,000 visitors daily. 255 home-based producing families participated, alongside 40 factories and companies. The festival provided more than 500 job opportunities for young men and women.

Supporting Entrepreneurship and Sustainability

Qassim Chamber Chairman Ali Al-Muqbil affirmed the festival boosted financial and professional sustainability for home-based producing families, while General Supervisor Mohammed Al-Hanaya said the festival has become a pioneering model in economic and tourism development, having aimed since its first launch to support small and emerging businesses.

In Closing

The "Kaleeja Festival" has become a major stop on the Kingdom's tourism and heritage map, continuing to shine in supporting entrepreneurship, promoting heritage, and empowering home-based producing families.