World-class entertainment from Wallonia, Belgium

What do Belgium and Saudi Arabia have in common when it comes to entertainment? They host the biggest and loudest electronic music festivals as well as the longest street circuits in the world! 

With MDLBeast’s SOUNDSTORM, the biggest electronic music festival in the Gulf kicking off today in Riyadh, everyone cannot but reminisce about the most popular festival of all – Tomorrowland – taking place in Belgium in the summer. Indeed, Belgium is recognized worldwide for the quality of its entertainment sector. This tradition of “fun” can be traced back centuries with the colorful carnivals. Carnival in Wallonia is steeped in history and folklore, with several celebrations dating more than 500 years, such as the Binche Carnival, one of the most popular carnival celebrations in the world. Recognized as a cultural treasure by UNESCO due to its 14th-century roots, the festival takes place in the medieval, walled town of Binche, Hainaut, near the French border. 

More recently, in the beginning of the20th century started the first large-scale production of comics in Belgium. As one of the few arts where Belgium has had an international and enduring impact in the 20th century, comics are known to be "an integral part of Belgian culture” and provide a relentless source of entertainment media content. Brussels has proclaimed itself the comic book capital of the world – and rightly so. The city boasts more comic book stores than any other in the world. And Wallonia is home to some of the world’s most famous characters from Belgian comics; including Tintin, Spirou, and The Smurfs.

Today, the Walloons have grown an appetite for all sorts of entertainment solutions ranging from music festivals such as the very eclectic Dour festival (5 days, 9 stages, 300 bands & DJs and more than 250 000 visitors) to car races such as the famous 24 Hours of Spa taking place at the world-class Spa-Francorchamps F1 circuit. Funny enough, Saudi Arabia and Wallonia share the podium with the two longest street circuits in the world! The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the second-longest on the 2021 calendar at 6.175km, just over 800m shorter than table-topper Spa.

Consequently, the entertainment industry has grown innovative and resourceful in Wallonia. Today, many companies enjoy a world class reputation in their niche sector. Live shows for instance, have been reinvented by Walloon artistic creator and visionary Franco DRAGONE. With his trademark aquatic stages, the previous artistic director from Cirque du Soleil gained a worldwide reputation in the creation of large-scale theatre shows. La Perle, which became today a permanent aquatic show in Dubai, serves as a perfect illustration of the grandiose behind this artistic mastermind. 

Organically born from this aquatic knowhow emerged UNIKPOOLS, created by the engineer behind DRAGONE’s aquatic stages. The company is specialized in designing and creating swimming pools with movable floors. This incredible technology offers a multipurpose pool floor that can be tailormade according to everyday requirements or for special occasions. Invisible and secure, the system is also safe for children. And of course, the water depth can be configured to any pre-selected height, in other words, the ultimate swimming pool! 

As mentioned above, the key role of Walloon companies in the event technology sector is often attributed to the rich cultural heritage of the region, filled with music festivals and crowded by sports games and cultural events. As a result, Walloon companies simply had to live up to the expectations of world class innovative events. This made them highly competitive on a global scale. 

But there is another reason behind the Walloon dominance. With every event that made you laugh or cheer and every step in interactive and immersive media that left you amazed, the key driver was technology. 

One possible answer could be Belgium’s focus on innovation. In 2020, the Member States of the EU spent around €311 billion on research & development and the highest R&D intensity was recorded in Belgium and Sweden (3.5% of GDP), followed by Austria (3.2%) and Germany (3.1%).

According to several Saudi industry leaders I have encountered, the emergence of new trends and technologies in the audiovisual sector is unparalleled. And guess what, Wallonia features world toppers in 3 niche sectors: Event technologies, Broadcasting technologies and Immersive & interactive technologies. At the crossroads between event technology and broadcasting technology is the specialization of live broadcasting. It may not come as a surprise that the Walloon dominance in this field is overwhelming. Perhaps the most exhilarating of the three categories is the revolution happening in the interactive and immersive media. 3D-technology, holograms, Artificial Reality and Virtual Reality are buzzwords that find a meaning in Wallonia. 

DIRTY MONITOR, a Charleroi-based company that has been working with Middle Eastern markets for a long time.  This Belgium based company is an enthusiastic creative studio, pioneer in the field of content conception and production for video mapping projections, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality or interactive solutions. Over the years, the company has gained an international reputation, thanks to its fruitful collaboration with renowned directors, agencies, brands and other great names from the event industry on large scale projects such as the Royal Opening of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran or the video animation for the new year 2015 and 2016 on the highest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai

DREAMWALL is a graphic design and animation studio also located in Charleroi and working in the field of 2D/3D animation, virtual design and production as well as event augmented reality. They recently remastered the TV series The Smurfs in 2021. And there’s more good news: IMPS, the Walloon IP owner of the famous Walloon cartoon has recently signed a contract with Sala entertainment to open 2 Family Entertainment Centers entirely dedicated to the blue gnomes in Riyadh in 2022 and Jeddah in 2023!

BATTLEKART is a surreal electric go-karting experience with augmented reality. Imagine a track on which different circuits and playing modes are projected, and where you progress at full speed onboard an electric kart while interacting with the scenery, the bonuses, and the other players!

VIRTUAL PARK is the largest hyper reality park in Europe! Keeping in mind the inevitable need to constantly invest in R&D, the company reinvented VR with a concept of light equipment (“sensorless experience”). What’s more, all creative content is designed in-house with a professional gaming studio also located in Belgium.

ALTERFACE creates media-based interactive attractions and specializes in interactive dark rides for theme parks or FEC. True to the credo of innovation in Belgium, the company released a new product called “erratic dark ride”, a non-linear ride with ‘erratic’ unpredicted route and gameplay. Increases fun and repeatability.

The "multimedia" or rather "digital, image & sound" market is a fast-growing market in Saudi Arabia and goes beyond film and music production and simple broadcasting. In the Kingdom, one of the most emblematic sectors is Live & Entertainment, which comprises a group of local and international players specialized in the production and performance of gigantic shows, concerts and events that match the image and size of the modern, globalized cities that Riyadh and Jeddah have become. With a plethora of iconic sports and entertainment events such as Clash on the Dunes, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Dakar Rally, MDL Beast festival or international golf competitions such as the PGA Tour, the Saudi market constitutes a preferred target market for all Walloon companies active in these booming sectors. Sports federations and clubs are also popular and many local agencies are looking for the latest digital innovations for broadcasting these events and making them attractive. Lastly, the video game and e-gaming sector is also very well established and is all the energy, especially in these cities, which have a largely young, connected, dynamic and internationalized population very keen on gaming. Besides, several eSports competitions are being organized in the country such as “Gamers without Borders,” the world’s biggest gaming event launched in 2020 by ESL Gaming, a global e-sports giant responsible for numerous online and offline competitions.

Many companies and agencies are on the lookout for new, cutting-edge technology nuggets. A delegation of member companies of TWIST, the Walloon sound, text and image technologies cluster is planning to come for a mission in Saudi to prospect activities related to Live Sport & Entertainment in Q1 2022. TWIST is the Walloon cluster for audiovisual players. It brings together private companies, universities, research centres, training centres and public authorities related to the media and audiovisual sector. Its role is to accelerate the economic development of its members and structure the sector as a whole. Today, TWIST has 105 members, representing 4,500 jobs. They all share recognised expertise in the audiovisual industry, either as technology users (service providers) or as developers of innovative technologies, particularly in the following fields: cinema, TV, animation, video games, Internet, mobile, augmented reality, trans-media, multi-screens, etc. 

Gaming, sports, live shows... Saudi Arabia wants to become an entertainment hub in the region. Walloon companies can find real opportunities for commercial partnerships and investments in these booming sectors.