MDLBEAST Soundstorm

One of the world’s biggest EDM festivals makes a triumphant return, with more than 200 artists, 730,000 visitors and a record-breaking stage.

Back in December 2019, MDLBEAST burst onto the region’s festival scene, bringing one of the largest EDM events on the planet to Saudi Arabia. Two years later, with the world recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, MDLBEAST returned with Soundstorm – one of the biggest music festivals to take place in 2021, with over 200 global and regional acts, including Steve Aoki, David Guetta, Tiësto and DJ Snake, as well as Nancy Ajram, Tamer Hosny, Amr Diab and Elissa. The event attracted 730,000 visitors across eight stages and four days, and even gained a new Guinness World Record for the ‘tallest (temporary) stage’, measuring 250m wide and 41.2m tall.

Experiential agency, Production Glue called upon a vast array of suppliers to help fulfil this mammoth project. “We were ecstatic when MDLBEAST asked us to pull off the impossible,” stated Production Glue. “They were looking for a team to transform a desert landscape, 40km outside of Riyadh, into a kick-ass festival ground that could host the biggest, boldest, music festival Saudi Arabia has ever seen.

“We leapt at the chance and got to work developing the incredibly complex, semi-permanent, festival site plan, which included civil engineering and public works projects, stretching across a 5.3 sq km area. For over four months, our teams were on the ground tackling the unimaginable, building what few dare to dream.”

Photos: MDLBEAST, Drew Ressler, Showforce, MediaPro, Amora Productions

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