Riyadh Season and big events: how local accounts can ride seasonal search waves

In the Gulf, people's interest is not spread evenly across the year. There are weeks when searches for events, nearby restaurants and late-night spots climb; weeks when attention turns to the desert and winter camping trips, known locally as kashta; and others taken up by school holidays and travel. A local account that knows when these waves arrive can prepare its content ahead of them, instead of chasing them late once everyone else has already moved.

This guide explains how to read a seasonal search wave with free tools, and how a café, a salon or a tour and rental business can plan content around Riyadh Season, the Dubai Shopping Festival, Jeddah's events and camping season. It also covers important cautions about using event names and logos and working with content creators. The examples are hypothetical, for illustration.

What is a seasonal search wave?

A search wave is a period when interest in a topic rises and then falls, usually repeating at about the same time each year. Some waves are tied to a major event with an announced date; others follow the weather or the school calendar. The waves that matter most to local accounts in the Gulf include:

• Riyadh Season: the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority announced that the 2026 season opens on 21 October and runs for ten weeks, with zones including Boulevard World, Boulevard City and Wonder Garden ^[1].
• Dubai Shopping Festival: the Visit Dubai website lists this year's edition as running from 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027 ^[2].
• Jeddah events: seasons, concerts and exhibitions are announced throughout the year, so follow each event's official channels rather than relying on last year's dates.
• Desert camping (kashta): as the weather cools in winter, conversation about camps, trip supplies and equipment rental picks up.
• School holidays: family movement between cities and abroad shifts, and so does the kind of content people look for; the dates come from the education authorities in each country.

These waves do not help everyone equally. A café near an events zone benefits directly, while an online store selling hospitality ware might benefit indirectly through content about gatherings and evenings out. Start with one simple question before any plan: in which wave is my audience searching for something I actually offer?

How to see the wave for yourself in Google Trends

You do not need paid tools to find out when interest in a topic begins. The free Google Trends tool lets you, from its Explore page, compare search terms, view results by region, see related searches and narrow results by category ^[3]. Try these steps:

1. Open the Explore page and type a phrase your audience really uses, such as "restaurants near the Boulevard", "kashta" or "Dubai offers", in the wording and dialect people actually search with.
2. Choose the country and then the region if possible, because interest in Riyadh may differ from the Eastern Province or Jeddah.
3. Pick a time range covering several years to see whether the wave repeats at the same time.
4. Compare two or three phrases to find the wording people prefer, then use it in your titles and captions.
5. Open the related searches section to discover questions you had not thought of; they are ready-made ideas for short videos.

Be careful how you read the numbers. Google Trends does not show the actual number of searches; it works from a sample of them, measures each data point relative to total searches in the same place and time, and then scales the result from 0 to 100 ^[4]. So the top value means peak relative interest within the period you chose, not a specific number of people. Use the tool to understand timing and direction, not to estimate the size of a market.

Three examples: a café, a salon and a tour and rental office

A café near the Riyadh events zone

Two weeks before the season opens, the café starts posting content that ties it to the location: how many minutes' walk it is from the nearest gate, whether there is parking, and its opening hours on event nights. During the season it shares short videos of the atmosphere before and after concerts and suggests a special drink for cold nights. The goal is that anyone searching for "coffee before the concert" finds a clear answer on its account.

A women's salon in Jeddah or Dubai

Seasons of parties, weddings and evening events push up demand for hairstyling and make-up. The salon can post "looks for winter evenings" ahead of the wave, open bookings early and share available slots in its stories every week. During school holidays it can offer mother-and-daughter packages that match the way families move around.

A tour and camp-rental office

Camping season is an obvious opportunity for an office that rents out camps, barbecue equipment and cars. Start before the weather cools with educational content: a kashta packing list, desert safety tips and how to choose a camp site. Then, at the height of the season, post videos from camps you have actually set up, with the consent of any customers who appear. For Dubai Shopping Festival visitors coming from other Gulf countries, content about car rental and one-day plans between the malls and the beach can also be useful.

What the three examples share is that each business picked one or two waves that suit it, rather than trying to chase every event in the city. At the start of the year, write a short list of the waves that matter to your business and note three things for each: when your audience's interest begins, what question they are searching for, and what you can honestly offer during that period. The list stops you posting at random about every event, helps you spread your photography and paid-ad budget across the weeks that deserve it, and reminds you to prepare your team and stock before the rush rather than during it.

Location and timing: place tags and videos that land on time

Seasonal content loses its value when it is late. Three habits help you show up at the right moment:

• Add a location to your posts: Instagram lets you add a location to a post or edit it even after publishing ^[5]. Choose your business's location or the neighbourhood you work in, not the event's location if you are not inside it.
• Film and post on the same day: a short video about "tonight's crowds" or "the weather right now" loses its meaning within days, so keep an editing template ready to save time.
• Schedule what can be scheduled: educational and introductory content can be prepared in advance; when it launched in 2022, Instagram's scheduling feature let professional accounts schedule posts and reels up to 75 days ahead ^[6]. Save your time during the season for live content.

Because peak times during a season differ from ordinary days, our guide to posting times for Gulf audiences shows you how to test your own timings. And if you run a restaurant or café, our guide to restaurant and café marketing in the Gulf complements this one with ideas specific to your sector.

Working with event-goers and content creators

Much seasonal content is made by visitors themselves. You can benefit from that respectfully: ask customers to tag your account if they enjoyed the experience, repost what they share after asking their permission, and set up an attractive photo corner in your shop that encourages sharing without pressure.

Working with content creators in exchange for money, gifts or free services, on the other hand, is advertising that needs clear disclosure, and it may require a licence from the competent authority depending on the country and the type of collaboration. Never ask anyone to hide that content is paid, and agree in writing on what will be posted and when. You will find more detail in our guide to Mawthooq in Saudi Arabia and the UAE advertiser permit, which is general information and no substitute for checking with the official authority.

Event names and logos: describe your location, do not imply a partnership

The names, logos and visual identities of major events belong to their organisers, and using them in your advertising can suggest a partnership that does not exist. The difference is subtle but important:

• Usually fine: a factual description such as "five minutes from the Boulevard City gate" or "open until 2 a.m. on season nights".
• Avoid: putting the event's logo on your offer design, naming your product after the event, or phrases like "official sponsor" and "official partner" unless that is true and written into a contract.
• Avoid: tickets or bundles carrying the event's name without an agreement with its organiser.
• If you want a genuine partnership, contact the organiser through its official channels.

Hashtags and descriptive words linked to the season help people find you, but that does not mean you can borrow its visual identity. This is general information, not legal advice; if in doubt, consult an intellectual-property specialist.

A seasonal planning table

Add a column for how each season went on your account: which video drew more interest than usual, and which post brought enquiries or bookings. These simple notes are what make next year's plan sharper than this year's.