ONE OF THE LARGEST MUSIC FESTIVALS IN THE WORLD
Client:
MDLBeast
Soundstorm is one of the largest music festivals in the world and the largest in Saudi Arabia. Delivered by MDLBeast, the festival is held annually at the Banban site in Riyadh and attracts international audiences, artists and production teams from across the world.
As MDLBeast’s flagship event, Soundstorm is delivered across a site of approximately 5.5 million square metres, featuring eight stages and supporting audiences of more than 150,000 attendees alongside parking capacity for over 80,000 vehicles. The scale of the event effectively creates a fully functioning temporary city within the desert environment.
The festival brings international headline artists to the region alongside immersive scenic production, large scale lighting and major live entertainment infrastructure across multiple audience environments. Previous line ups have included internationally recognised artists such as Metallica, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, 50 Cent and Benson Boone.
Number of attendees
450,000
at
Soundstorm
Services
provided
Overlay & Site Management
- Infrastructure scheduling & procurement
- On-site supplier & logistics management
- Budget variance management
- Provision of experts to manage waste and recycling, power, plumbing, plant
Construction Management
- Sourcing structures, planning & executing builds
- Schedule supply and manage bespoke fabrications
Site Design
- Budget & efficiency tracking
- Site feasibility studies
- Site surveys (incl drone + topographical)
our role
Special Projects has provided ongoing site management and operational coordination on behalf of MDLBeast across all editions of Soundstorm since 2021.
Our role has included coordinating infrastructure installation, contractor activity and operational planning across both front of house and back of house areas throughout all phases of delivery. Working across a festival site spanning approximately 5.5 million square metres, we have supported infrastructure integration and operational coordination across multiple departments, stakeholders and concurrent workstreams within a large scale live event environment.
Special Projects has supported the integration of utilities, logistics operations, civil works and temporary infrastructure across the wider festival footprint, helping maintain operational structure and programme alignment throughout the build, live event and dismantle phases. This has included coordinating large scale site reconfigurations, supporting the integration of permanent infrastructure and managing operational sequencing across an evolving site layout.
Our role has also included supporting procurement processes, infrastructure planning and contractor coordination across multiple scopes of work in collaboration with MDLBeast and wider project stakeholders. Throughout delivery, we have maintained close coordination across departments, suppliers and operational teams to support efficient infrastructure delivery and site operations within one of the largest live event environments in the region.
Alongside event delivery, Special Projects has maintained a year round site management presence at the Banban site since 2021, supporting the venue’s ongoing operational readiness, infrastructure coordination and the continued development and maintenance of the wider event environment between festival editions and across other live events delivered at the site.
Soundstorm Guinness World Records:
-Tallest stage (temporary) 2021
-Most LED Lights in a display 2021
-Highest flame projection in a music concert 2022
-Most flame projections launched simultaneously in a music concert 2022
