The King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2025, held in Malham, north of Riyadh, witnessed an exceptional day of exciting competition, with the fifth day recording the highest number of falcons participating in a single day since the start of the current edition. A total of 367 falcons competed in nine qualifying rounds for local owners, reflecting the growing momentum of this global heritage event.
The world's largest gathering of falcons
This overwhelming turnout reaffirms the festival's status as the world's largest gathering of falcons, a title it earned and for which it entered the Guinness World Records in previous editions. The Saudi Falcons Club organizes this massive event, which runs from December 25 to January 10, with the aim of preserving the tradition of falconry, an integral part of Saudi Arabia's cultural identity and inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The importance of the festival is not limited to the competitive aspect only, but it represents an important economic and cultural tributary, as it brings together under its umbrella professional and amateur falconers from inside and outside the Kingdom, which enhances the exchange of experiences and stimulates buying and selling in the falcon market, in addition to its role in revitalizing heritage tourism in the region.
Details of the results of the fifth day's rounds
The fifth day of competition was marked by intense and closely contested events in the categories of Gyrfalcon (Pure Gyrfalcon, Gyrfalcon-Peregrine hybrid, and Gyrfalcon-Saker hybrid) for both young and adult falcons. The detailed results for the top positions are as follows:
- Purebred Gyrfalcon chick round: Falconer Osama bin Thanyan won first place with his falcon (Gentle), followed by Abdullah Ghanem Al-Dosari with his falcon (A3), and Hamad Mohsen Al-Marri came in third with (Al-Muhadhab).
- Pure Gyrfalcon race: Dhafer Salem Al-Marri won first place with the falcon (Al-Mared), Abdullah Al-Ajmi came second with (Al-Muhami), and Fahd Al-Quraini came third with (Sultan).
- Gyrfalcon races: In the young falcon category, Saleh Al-Mutairi achieved first place with his falcon (Wanix). As for the adult falcon category, Hamad Abdulmohsen Al-Marri won first place in the first race with his falcon (96), while Saud Al-Duaij snatched first place in the second race with his falcon (Sun).
Dominance and excitement in the rounds of Jeer Taba
The “Girl of Tab’a” category witnessed fierce competition across 4 rounds, with the following results:
- The chick rounds: Khalid Al-Buainain achieved first place in the first round with the falcon (Farouq), while Khalid Al-Hajri dominated the second round with the falcon (K3).
- In the Al-Qarnas rounds: Hamad bin Musli Al-Qahtani won the first round with (Nimrod), and Fahd Al-Nassar concluded the day’s competitions by taking first place in the second round with the falcon (Al-Saab).
Millions in prizes and unlimited support
It is worth noting that the King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival 2025 continues to offer its substantial prizes, the most valuable in the world in this field, with a total prize value exceeding 38 million Saudi Riyals. These prizes are distributed across 1,012 categories in 139 rounds of the Al-Malwah (400-meter lure) and beauty contests. This generous support reflects the wise leadership's commitment to preserving cultural heritage and supporting falconers, making the Kingdom a leading global destination for this time-honored sport.
