Saudi entertainment chief sets trend as bandanas take Riyadh music festival by storm

Following Turki Al-Sheikh’s appearance at the music festival and call for the headwear on his Twitter profile, social media users and Arab celebrities began posting pictures online of them donning cloth kerchiefs on their heads.

The hashtags #put on_ your_bandana_ and #go_ Ya_monster were top trending after the official joined thousands of festivalgoers at the biggest event of its kind in the Middle East.

At least 180,000 fans descended on the festival site for the first day of the musical extravaganza on Thursday, many of them sporting bandanas. And shops in the area have also started selling bandanas in a range of colors and designs.

One visitor, Meshal Al-Mutairi, wore a bandana wrapped around his forehead. “People can wear bandanas on their hands as a wrist band, and some people wear them on the forehead. Eventually, we are here to have fun,” he told Arab News.

Abdulaziz Al-Shahrani and his friends were also wearing the accessories.

He said: “We are following the Turki Al-Sheikh trend, he said to wear bandanas and we did. At MDLBEAST, people are going crazy with their fashion and weird clothes. It’s one of the appearances that you only see here.”

Bucking the bandana trend was Abdulaziz Ibrahim who attended the festival in an alien-themed outfit. “I wanted to wear something outside the box, and this is why I said, ‘why not an alien costume?’” And he urged other festivalgoers to show up in crazy outfits.

Danie Dawood wore a non-traditional farwa style cloak with circled steampunk glasses. “I bought this farwa, which is my winter coat, only for Soundstorm, and I like how the coat has Arabian symbols that show my culture. Soundstorm is a space for everyone to be free, to express themselves, and people should be encouraged to show their real personality.”

Fashion designer and influencer, Muneef Al-Shammari, was among a host of famous faces at the event and arrived on the first day wearing a pink coat with a trendy crossbody purse.

“I’m wearing my outfit today because I wanted to express myself in MDLBEAST. So, I can show a part of my personality that is a little bit crazier than the usual without getting any judgment.”

The music festival runs for four days until Dec. 19.