Shiraa Wooden Ships Festival To Revive Maritime Heritage In Jeddah Next January

The Heritage Commission is preparing to launch the Shiraa Wooden Ships Festival at Al-Hamra Beach in Jeddah from January 12 to 16, 2026. The event will focus on maritime heritage, showcase traditional wooden vessels, and present cultural activities that explore the historic role of the sea in trade, travel, and daily life across different eras.

Visitors will experience a varied programme that combines visual displays, performances, and family entertainment. Light shows will illuminate wooden boats along the waterfront, while interactive activities will simulate historic sea journeys. The event will also recreate scenes from traditional coastal life, allowing audiences to observe how sailors worked, travelled, and used ports as commercial and cultural gateways.

The Shiraa Wooden Ships Festival will be arranged into themed zones, each linked to maritime heritage and coastal culture. Planned areas include a main exhibition space, a stage zone for performances, an arts area, and a dedicated market. Each section will draw on historical sea-related words and symbols to explain how coastal communities built their economies and social traditions.

Special pavilions will be allocated to the Heritage Commission and to artisans who practise traditional crafts. These spaces will display skills such as boatbuilding and other sea-related workmanship. Additional installations will feature light art and sculptures influenced by waves and marine life. A separate entertainment zone will be provided for families and children, giving younger visitors safe spaces for learning and play.

The programme at the Shiraa Wooden Ships Festival will highlight sea-related occupations that shaped coastal society, including fishing, navigation, and wooden ship construction. Storytelling segments and artistic performances will recall historic maritime tales. Through these activities, organisers aim to connect younger generations with ancestral skills and share knowledge about how Saudi communities depended on the sea for survival and exchange.

According to the Heritage Commission, the festival forms part of wider efforts to increase awareness of intangible cultural heritage in Saudi Arabia. By reviving scenes from sailors’ lives and the activity of historic ports, the event will help visitors understand how maritime routes supported trade and cultural interaction between different regions over long periods.

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The Heritage Commission stated that the Shiraa Festival supports Saudi Vision 2030 goals related to culture and heritage. The event is designed to protect national heritage, encourage participation from local communities, and help turn cultural and historical locations into active venues for learning and social engagement, while keeping maritime traditions visible within the modern cultural scene.

With inputs from SPA