Winter at Tantora is AlUla’s flagship cold-season festival, and the 2025-26 edition runs from 18 December 2025 to 10 January 2026 under the theme “Winter Brings Us Together.” I timed a desert trip around it, and if you are planning yours, this guide lays out every date, what actually happens, and roughly what tickets cost. Below you will also find AlUla’s full 2025-26 festival calendar, from AZIMUTH in autumn to the Skies Festival balloons in April, so you can build a trip around whichever event suits you. Winter at Tantora is the headline act, but it is one of five flagship festivals worth knowing about before you book.
Quick answer: Winter at Tantora 2025-26 opens on 18 December 2025 and closes on 10 January 2026. Most events sit inside AlUla Old Town, the Oasis, and the desert around Hegra. Some experiences are free; ticketed concerts and tours start from around SAR 35.
In this guide
- What is Winter at Tantora?
- Winter at Tantora 2025-26 dates and theme
- What happens during Winter at Tantora
- Winter at Tantora tickets and prices
- AlUla’s full 2025-26 festival calendar
- AlUla Skies Festival 2026: the balloons
- Planning a trip around the festivals
- Is Winter at Tantora worth it? My honest take
- Frequently asked questions
What is Winter at Tantora?
Winter at Tantora takes its name from the Tantora, an old sundial in AlUla Old Town that historically marked the start of the winter planting season. Farmers used it to know when to sow, and the whole community would gather. The festival leans into that idea of gathering, which is why the 2025-26 theme is “Winter Brings Us Together.”
In practice, Winter at Tantora is a roughly three-week programme of concerts, food events, guided heritage walks, desert adventures, and art, spread across AlUla’s most photogenic settings. It is run by Experience AlUla under the wider AlUla Moments calendar, and it is the busiest the region gets all year.
If you have only heard one thing about AlUla, it is probably a photo from Winter at Tantora: the mirrored Maraya concert hall glowing in the desert, or a string quartet playing under the sandstone balconies of Old Town. The reality is a little more relaxed and a lot more spread out than the marketing images suggest, which I will get into honestly further down.
Winter at Tantora 2025-26 dates and theme
Winter at Tantora 2025-26 runs from 18 December 2025 to 10 January 2026. That window is deliberate: it captures the Christmas and New Year holiday period, which is peak season for international visitors, and it lands squarely in AlUla’s coolest, most comfortable months.
The theme, “Winter Brings Us Together,” shapes the programming toward communal, family-friendly events rather than a single big-name headliner. You get a series of concerts and cultural nights rather than one festival-weekend blowout. That means Winter at Tantora rewards a stay of three or four nights over a single day trip, because the events are staggered across the calendar.
One practical note: exact daily line-ups and individual show dates are published on the official site closer to the opening and can shift. Book the festival window first, then lock specific ticketed shows once they are listed. For the source of truth on Winter at Tantora dates and the current programme, check the official Experience AlUla festival page.
What happens during Winter at Tantora
Winter at Tantora is not one venue or one show. It is a cluster of experiences, and the good news is that several of them are worth building a day around. Here is what the programme typically covers.
Old Town Nights and Shorfat Tantora concerts
AlUla Old Town, a restored labyrinth of mudbrick houses, becomes the social heart of the festival after dark. Shorfat Tantora sees musicians perform from the town’s upper balconies while you wander the lanes below, and the amphitheatre hosts larger showcases. This is the free-to-wander, low-commitment side of Winter at Tantora, and it is the part I would not skip.
Concerts at Maraya and the desert venues
Maraya, the mirror-clad concert hall in Ashar Valley, is the ticketed, dress-up end of Winter at Tantora. It regularly draws international and regional artists. These are the events that sell out, so if a specific concert is your reason to travel, buy the moment tickets go live.
Food, heritage walks and desert adventure
Beyond music, Winter at Tantora includes culinary voyages through Old Town, the family-focused AlManshiyah Carnival, guided tours, and desert activities like hot-air balloon flights, stargazing, and hiking. For the archaeology itself, pair the festival with a proper tour of the Nabataean tombs; our guide on how to visit Hegra covers booking and timing. AlUla is also a certified Dark Sky region, so a stargazing session in AlUla slots neatly into a festival evening.
Winter at Tantora tickets and prices
Pricing at Winter at Tantora splits into two clear tiers, and understanding the split saves money. A good chunk of the festival, wandering Old Town, the general atmosphere, and some community celebrations, is free to attend. You do not need a ticket to soak up the evenings in Old Town.
Ticketed experiences, meaning concerts, culinary events, guided tours, and balloon rides, are where you spend. At the time of writing, entry-level ticketed events start from around SAR 35, while headline concerts at Maraya and premium desert experiences run considerably higher. Balloon flights, in particular, are a several-hundred-riyal experience, not a token fee.
Because prices vary by event and change year to year, treat any figure here as a guide and confirm on the official Experience AlUla ticketing pages before you commit. My rule for Winter at Tantora: budget for one or two paid marquee events and let the free Old Town evenings fill the rest.
AlUla’s full 2025-26 festival calendar
Winter at Tantora is one of five flagship festivals in the AlUla Moments season, which runs across autumn, winter, and spring. If your dates are flexible, it is worth knowing what else is on, because AlUla puts on a genuinely different show each season. Here is the confirmed 2025-26 line-up.
| Festival | 2025-26 dates | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| AZIMUTH | 25-26 September 2025 | Two-night electronic music event opening the season |
| AlUla Wellness Festival | 24 October – 1 November 2025 | ~10 days of wellbeing, movement and retreats |
| Ancient Kingdoms Festival | 20 November – 6 December 2025 | Heritage focus, including candlelit concerts at Hegra |
| Winter at Tantora | 18 December 2025 – 10 January 2026 | Flagship winter festival: music, food, culture, desert |
| AlUla Arts Festival | 16 January – 14 February 2026 | Contemporary art, incl. Desert X AlUla open-air biennale |
| AlUla Skies Festival | 17-26 April 2026 | 10 days of hot-air balloons and night-sky spectacle |
A useful thing to notice: the season barely pauses between late December and mid-February. Winter at Tantora hands straight over to the AlUla Arts Festival, so a visit in the second week of January can actually catch the tail of one and the start of the other. Dates for AZIMUTH and the Wellness Festival above are from the 2025 editions; both typically return in the same slots, but confirm 2026-27 dates when the new calendar is announced in autumn.
AlUla Skies Festival 2026: the balloons
If Winter at Tantora is the atmospheric winter option, the AlUla Skies Festival is the bucket-list spring one. It returns for a 10-day run from 17 to 26 April 2026, built around AlUla’s exceptionally clear desert skies.
The centrepiece, SKYRISE, sends up to 30 hot-air balloons aloft together at dawn, with a portion carrying paying guests over the UNESCO-listed tombs of Hegra. On the ground, Balloon Glow shows, expected on the opening and closing weekends around 17-18 and 24-25 April, combine illuminated balloons, music, and projection after dark. It is a very different energy from Winter at Tantora, and if you can only pick one festival for photography, this is the one.
Planning a trip around the festivals
Getting to AlUla
AlUla International Airport (ULH) sits about a 30-40 minute drive from Old Town. The most reliable route is a direct flight from Riyadh, served by both flynas and Saudia, with roughly 11 flights a week and a flight time of around 1 hour 55 minutes. Frequency ramps up during Winter at Tantora, so book early over the holiday peak, when both flights and hotels tighten fast.
Where to stay
Accommodation ranges from Old Town heritage stays to desert resorts in Ashar Valley near Maraya. During Winter at Tantora, staying close to Old Town keeps you in walking distance of the free evening programme, which I found made the trip. For a full breakdown of neighbourhoods and resorts, see our guide to the best area to stay in AlUla.
When to go
The festival dates overlap with AlUla’s best weather anyway: December and January days sit comfortably in the low-to-mid 20s Celsius, with cold desert nights that need a real jacket. For the wider seasonal picture, our best time to visit AlUla guide compares the months in detail. In short, Winter at Tantora coincides with the ideal travel window, which is exactly why it gets busy.
Is Winter at Tantora worth it? My honest take
Yes, with caveats. The setting is genuinely world-class, and the free Old Town evenings alone justify the trip. But manage expectations: Winter at Tantora is a distributed programme, not a single stage, so events are spread across days and venues that can be a 20-30 minute drive apart. Without a plan, you can end up with gaps.
The other honest trade-off is crowds and price. Because Winter at Tantora lands on the New Year holiday, hotel rates spike and popular concerts sell out. If you want the same landscapes with fewer people, the shoulder edges of the AlUla Arts Festival in late January are quieter while the weather stays perfect. But for atmosphere, Winter at Tantora is the peak experience, and I would happily do it again. For ideas beyond the festival itself, our roundup of things to do in AlUla covers Hegra, Elephant Rock, and the Oasis.
Recap: Winter at Tantora 2025-26 runs 18 December 2025 to 10 January 2026, some events are free and ticketed ones start from around SAR 35, and it is part of a five-festival AlUla Moments season that stretches to the Skies Festival balloons in April. Book flights and hotels early, and you will have the best of a rare desert winter.
Frequently asked questions
When is Winter at Tantora 2025-26?
Winter at Tantora 2025-26 runs from 18 December 2025 to 10 January 2026, under the theme “Winter Brings Us Together.” Individual show dates within that window are published closer to opening on the official Experience AlUla site.
How much do Winter at Tantora tickets cost?
Many parts of the festival, including Old Town evenings, are free. Ticketed events start from around SAR 35 at the time of writing, with headline concerts at Maraya and desert experiences like balloon flights costing significantly more. Always confirm current prices on the official ticketing pages.
Where do Winter at Tantora events take place?
Events are spread across AlUla Old Town, the Oasis, the Maraya concert hall in Ashar Valley, and the desert around Hegra. Because venues can be 20-30 minutes apart, a car or shuttle and a bit of planning help you get the most out of the programme.
What is the difference between Winter at Tantora and the AlUla Skies Festival?
Winter at Tantora (December-January) is a winter festival of music, food, and culture centred on Old Town. The AlUla Skies Festival (17-26 April 2026) is a spring event built around up to 30 hot-air balloons and night-sky shows. They fall in different seasons, so you choose based on your travel dates and whether you want atmosphere or aerial spectacle.
How do I get to AlUla for the festival?
Fly into AlUla International Airport (ULH), about 30-40 minutes from Old Town. Direct flights from Riyadh on flynas and Saudia take roughly two hours and run about 11 times a week, increasing during the Winter at Tantora peak. Book well ahead over the holiday period.