The Challenge
Since 2021, Soundstorm has set new global standards as the largest music festival in the Middle East.
Each year it brings together hundreds of thousands of attendees on a vast desert site outside Riyadh, delivering boundary defying programming across multiple stages while breaking world records for scale and ambition.
The challenge goes far beyond producing a music festival. Alongside temporary works, Soundstorm involves extensive civil and permanent works, transforming a remote 5.3 sq km site into one of the most advanced, purpose built festival grounds in the world.
Balancing this scale of construction with live event operations requires rigorous planning, robust safety management, and seamless coordination with authorities.
The Solution
As long-term members of the Masterplanning Team, we act as the client’s dedicated Health & Safety partner, providing year-round consultancy on every aspect of Crowd and Event Safety.
Our support extends across all project phases – Civil Works, Commissioning, Build, Show, and Break – deploying on-site Safety Teams for periods of up to six months at a time. Team size flexes in line with site activity and associated risk, ensuring tailored and proportionate safety oversight throughout the lifecycle of the event.
We deliver our full Digital Operations programme for Soundstorm, integrating online and offline inductions (in multiple languages), QR code based incident reporting, compliance tracking, and custom dashboards for stakeholders. This system enables real-time visibility of safety performance across the project.
To secure permissions, we develop detailed Plans and Procedures with our third-party engineer partner for presentation to Civil Defense, while liaising directly with the authorities to obtain permits. During live event days, 3 to 4 of our Leadership Team take Tactical / Silver roles in Event Control, embedding safety expertise into the heart of event decision-making.
The Result
Soundstorm now welcomes up to 750,000 people annually across nine stages on one of the world’s largest custom-built festival sites.
With a footprint of 5.3 sq km, it is unmatched in the region for both size and complexity.
At its centre of Soundstorm stands the record-breaking Big Beast stage, stretching 250m wide and 41.2m high – a global icon of festival production.
Each year’s edition raises the bar further: from Metallica performing on Big Beast to drone fireworks, fire gardens, site-spanning zip lines, and permanent infrastructure works including new highways and bridges.
The result is not just a festival, but a landmark international event now firmly established on the global calendar.
Our involvement has ensured that safety has been designed in from the start, allowing creativity and ambition to flourish without compromise.
Our Part
The result is not just a festival, but a landmark international event now firmly established on the global calendar.
Our long-term partnership has helped embed safety into the DNA of Soundstorm, enabling it to scale year on year while maintaining its reputation as one of the world’s most ambitious and successful festivals.
Our services on this one include:
- Presence on the Masterplanning Team
- Year-round Health & Safety consultancy and strategic input
- Health & Safety Strategy development
- Delivery of the Digital Operations programme
- Crowd & Event Safety consultancy
- Safety by Design consultancy
- Civil Defense / Authorities liaison
- Operational Team deployment
- Tactical Command provision
- Stakeholder management
- Vendor management
