Thousands of people attend region’s first YouTube FanFest in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The city of Jeddah hosted on Friday the Arab world’s first YouTube FanFest at the King Abdullah Sports City where thousands of people flocked to see some of the region’s most influential YouTube creators.

The day was divided into two shows, one just for females and another for families. More than 2,500 people attended the shows which featured YouTube creators such as Omar Hussein (FanFest Jeddah host), Bader Saleh, Hatoun Al Qadi, Njoud Al Shammari, and more.

“We are proud to have hosted the Arab world’s first YouTube FanFest in Jeddah. YouTube’s continuous growth in the region and especially in Saudi Arabia warranted an event like FanFest which was a celebration of the creativity that lives on YouTube in the kingdom. We were happy to see the creators performing for their fans on a live stage, a first for many of them,” said Diana Baddar, Head of YouTube Partnerships for the Middle East and North Africa.

The show was versatile and included a variety of talents, from Qarwasha’s comedy sketch which made the audience erupt with laughter to the Saudi Reporters’ on-stage challenges with the audience, to Bader Saleh’s live comic commentary of the country’s viral videos.

Friday’s show was the 25th YouTube FanFest and Jeddah joins a list of cities who have played home to FanFest such as Toronto, Tokyo, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, and Seoul.

FanFest is the latest in a series of YouTube events in MENA. YouTube launched last October in Riyadh a channel called Batala which is dedicated to highlighting the growing number of female creators in the region. Fan meet-ups held over the past two years in Saudi Arabia and the UAE attracted more than 6,000 fans who attended to see their favorite YouTube creators.

YouTube creators in the Middle East and North Africa continue to grow with the number of creators tripling in the region in the last three years. These creators are part of the growth of YouTube in the region, and especially in Saudi Arabia where watchtime grew by 50% and by 65% on mobile in 2016.

Here are some facts about YouTube in Saudi Arabia:

• More than 50 channels in MENA have more than one million subscribers, more than 20 are in Saudi Arabia

• There was a 100% growth in total uploads coming from Saudi last year

• 15% of total watch time of local Saudi content is coming from outside the country

• Saudi contributed a third of total watch time in MENA in 2016

Here are all the creators who took part in FanFest Jeddah:

Family Show: The Saudi Reporters, Bader Saleh, Omar Hussein, Omar Farooq, Moha, MjrmGames, Ibrahim Saleh, Faisal Alawmi, Fahad Sal, EtooKB, d7oomy999, 8arwasha
Female only show: Shog AL Maskery, Njoud, NoonAlniswa, HaylaTV and Esswara.