Speaking Engagement: XP Music Futures- “Off the Grid to Center Stage”
Music is becoming one of the most powerful forces shaping how destinations are imagined and experienced. At XP Music Futures, I explored how festivals, subcultures, and cross-sector collaboration are redefining cultural place-making in Saudi and beyond.
I recently participated in the “Off the Grid to Center Stage: How Music Shapes Destinations” panel at XP Music Futures in Riyadh, where we explored how music is emerging as one of the most powerful forces shaping destination identity and cultural place-making.
Our conversation examined how music creates belonging faster than any other cultural form, how it introduces travelers to a destination’s creative pulse, and why meaningful experiences must grow from authentic culture rather than be built over it. We also discussed the role of cross-sector collaboration (tourism, culture, media, events, and the wider creative economy) in forming the narratives that ultimately shape how destinations are perceived globally.
One of the themes I reflected on was the importance of designing festivals in a way that exposes visitors to subcultures. Festivals are not just gatherings around a stage; they are living expressions of a city’s creative undercurrents: the rituals, aesthetics, values, and micro-communities that form its cultural DNA. When curated authentically, festivals become gateways into these subcultures, allowing visitors to witness and participate in the cultural operating system of a place.
This approach not only deepens the visitor experience but strengthens the destination’s cultural identity and its capacity to generate culture surplus.
The rise of Saudi’s creative communities was another highlight of the discussion. These emerging scenes (spanning music, arts, fashion, and storytelling) are quickly becoming reasons to visit, not just reasons to tune in. They embody a new chapter in the Kingdom’s cultural confidence and global cultural contribution.
Speaking at XP Music Futures was a reminder of how central culture is to the future of tourism, and how music-driven experiences can help nations move from cultural consumption to cultural contribution, the core of the culture surplus concept.
More speaking engagements and reflections will continue to be shared here on CultureSurplus.com.
