The new regulation is the updated version of a regulation GEA issued in 2018 to organise entertainment activities.
Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has issued a regulation organising licences for entertainment activities and associated suppliers services.
The regulation outlines the specifications and documents required for obtaining entertainment licences, the types of licences that are issued by GEA and fall within the scope of this regulation, as well as the obligations of licence holders and the penalties against violators.
The regulation includes 19 articles across five sections, and identifies 10 types of licences classified into three categories: Entertainment Venues, Entertainment Events; and Suppliers Services.
Entertainment Venues include theme parks, entertainment centres and entertainment events venues; Entertainment Events include entertainment event permit, entertainment show permit, and restaurants and cafés live shows permit; and Suppliers Services include artists and talent management licence, entertainment venue operator licence, crowd management and organisation accreditation, and entertainment activities ticketing accreditation.
Once an investor submits a licence or permit request via the Entertainment Portal, GEA inspects the application then issues the licence and provides post-licensing services.
Through the regulation, GEA stipulates the guidelines and laws that the license holder must abide by, most notably in terms of observing Islamic values and the cultural considerations of the Kingdom’s society, refraining from offending individuals or government authorities, implementing security and safety standards within the entertainment venues or event sites, and implementing guidelines and instructions issued by the authority.
GEA also stipulated the penalties in the event of violations, which range from issuing a warning, shutting down the facility, or suspending the activity, to withdrawing the licence completely, or even including the violator on the ‘banned list’.
Conversely, a licence holder is entitled to object to GEA’s decisions at the Complaints Department, which shall inspect the objection and take the appropriate action or raise the file to the Grievance Committee.
The new regulation is the updated version of a regulation GEA issued in 2018 to organise entertainment activities.
