Sawt Falasteen - YouTube superstar MrBeast opens pop-up park in Saudi Arabia

Eager for a chance to meet the social media star, families and teenagers gathered at "Beast Land", a venue featuring obstacle course-like challenges similar to those in his popular videos where contestants compete for massive pay days.

Hani Abu al-Naja said he travelled all the way from the city of Khobar, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Riyadh, with his four children and four nephews for the opening.

"It was a surprise for them," the 42-year-old Palestinian told AFP, beaming with joy.

MrBeast's park will be open until December 27 as part of Riyadh Season, a major annual festival launched to promote the capital city as a tourist hub, as Saudi Arabia seeks to attract high-profile celebrities to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

"The majority of our audience is outside of North America and we have a large concentration of people who watch our videos in the Middle East," he told AFP in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

"A lot of times when we do stuff, we do it in the West or in other places and I just really wanted to do something fun for our fans who live around here," he added.

After a dramatic countdown on giant screens, MrBeast appeared on stage surrounded by flames, lasers, confetti and a swarm of shining drones to intense applause.

He opened briefcases and huge chests with bundles of cash. Every day, the visitor with the highest score will win 7,000 riyals ($1,866), and in 45 days the participant with the best overall score will receive 1 million riyals ($266,645).

- 'The craziest thing' -

The influencer had earlier posted a video from the gates of the new park in Riyadh, shaped like a blue tiger's head with flashing lightning bolts for eyes, reminiscent of his logo, with neon lights beaming on the attractions.

"This thing is the craziest thing that I've ever done, I can't wait for you guys to experience this," he said in the clip.

With more followers across his social media platforms than there are people in the United States, the 27-year-old influencer -- whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson -- has built a digital empire over the years thanks to his prodigious output of content often featuring contests and challenges.

The kingdom, where 75 percent of Saudis are under 35 years of age, is the perfect playground for influencers like MrBeast, whose content is mostly watched by children and young people.

Smartphone market penetration in the kingdom stands at over 98 percent, while internet penetration stands at nearly 98 percent, both well above the global average, according to PwC.

Saudis rank "among the most avid media consumers in the world" according to the consultancy.

Human rights groups accuse the kingdom of inviting international stars and "art-washing" to obscure its poor human rights record, including a high rate of executions.

In 2023, Time magazine named MrBeast one of the world's most influential people.

That same year, Forbes put his net worth at around half a billion dollars.

Saudi Arabia has been building multiple leisure and entertainment attractions, including Qiddiya near Riyadh, billed as an "entertainment city" of theme parks and a motorsports racetrack.

I.Saadi--SF-PST