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Cultural Talents Tournament (Season 1)
Client: Ministry of Culture in partnership with the Ministry of Education
Sector:
Duration: 12 months
Industry: Culture | Education
Overview
Challenge
Identifying and nurturing cultural proficiency in different areas of study for male and female students pursuing general education from across the Kingdom.
Outcome
The tournament reached more than 250,000 students across regions, trained over 8,000 in specialized workshops, and honored 1,900 for cultural achievements. It also delivered a national bootcamp with 117 participants, discovered 50+ promising creators, and facilitated cultural field visits for hands-on learning.
Impact
The initiative strengthened cultural awareness among youth, supported the development of a cultural talent pipeline, and connected new generations with Saudi Arabia's heritage, fostering pride, creativity, and long-term cultural engagement.
About the Tournament
The Cultural Talents Tournament is a nationwide event open to general education schools across the Kingdom. The competition aims to identify innovative students in various cultural fields, supporting them and helping them improve their skills. It has six primary categories: Film, Music, Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, and Heritage. The competition is open to male and female students in the upper grades of primary school and middle and high school.
The competition aims to showcase the cultural skills of students using a well-designed methodology to achieve the following:
- Safeguard the cultural heritage of the Kingdom and raise awareness about it.
- Discovering and developing skills in cultural and artistic fields.
- Increase the enthusiasm of male and female students towards pursuing diverse cultural fields.
- Ensure male and female students can utilize their full potential.
Competition Stages
The competition goes through different stages: preparation, launch, discovery, sorting, training, judging, camp, and ceremony — designed to activate the main objectives according to best practices in cultural and training fields.
Stage 1 — Entry & Sorting
Receiving entries from male and female students in specified tracks, followed by sorting and filtering to select the best submissions.
Stage 2 — Training & Judging
Students develop cultural skills through distance training and submit creative entries. Judges then choose the best entries and reward the winners.
Stage 3 — Camp & Ceremony
Selected students participate in a training camp to further develop their creative skills across cultural fields. Results are announced in the closing ceremony.
Prizes
The competition offers prizes worth more than 5 million Saudi Riyals. Winners in each track and educational stage receive:
100,000 SAR
1st Place
75,000 SAR
2nd Place
50,000 SAR
3rd Place
Impact at a Glance
250,000+
students reached across regions
8,000+
students trained in specialized workshops
1,900
students honored for cultural achievements
117
participants in the national bootcamp
50+
promising creators discovered
5M+ SAR
in prizes awarded to winners
Lasting Value Created
The competition is part of the "Cultural Capability Development" strategy, which aims to improve the connection between general education students in the Kingdom with culture and arts. The goal is to identify their skills and work towards enhancing and developing them — enabling creative individuals to contribute to the enrichment and effectiveness of Saudi Arabia's cultural sector.
The initiative strengthened cultural awareness among youth, supported the development of a cultural talent pipeline, and connected new generations with Saudi Arabia's heritage, fostering pride, creativity, and long-term cultural engagement.