Hai Vogue Day 1: All the Celebrities, Activities, and Performances

It’s finally Hai Vogue time! Last evening, Vogue Arabia celebrated the opening of its very first event in Saudi Arabia — a two-day block party full of fashion, music, art and more — in the heart of Jeddah’s Unesco heritage site, Al Balad. Open to the public, the festival brought together some of the world (and the region’) most-loved fashion and beauty brands, along with incredible fashion designers and influencers, and musicians who took over the stage to treat guests to some incredible performances. Read on to discover everything you missed, and click here now to grab your tickets for Day 2, kickstarting tonight at 6pm.

Photo: Boom Studios

Hai Vogue Day 1: The celebrities and guests

As soon as the Hai Vogue venue opened up on February 8, VIP guests began streaming in to check out all the interesting brand installations, art experiences, food trucks and musical performances of the day. Among the cool crew of Jeddah were some of the Middle East’s most-loved faces, including Saudi influencer Abeer Sinder and husband Liam Oneill, Saudi beauty Lama Alakaeel — who also presented the day’s events and hosted a special conversation on fashion, Saudi musician TamTam (who will be performing at Hai I tonight), Lebanese influencer Nathalie Fanj, and Saudi stylist Rawan Kattoa.

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Also in attendance were designers Yousef Akbar, Mohammed Khoja and Alia and Abeer Oraif, along with Vogue Arabia’s February 2024 cover stars Sarah Taibah, Lina Malaika, and Aisha Almamy.

Hai Vogue Day 1: The opening ceremony and cover reveal

As the sun set over Jeddah, the venue of Hai Vogue lit up for a very special opening ceremony. After Saudi Arabia’s Hejazi dancers paraded through the festival space with their trademark beats, Nervora founder and CEO and Vogue Arabia publisher Shashi Menon addressed the guests and welcomed them to our very first event in the Kingdom. Following him was Saudi spoken word artist Amal Alharbi, who presented a heartwarming recital of a poem she wrote about the beauty of Jeddah.

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The Hai Vogue opening ceremony ended with a very special surprise. Vogue Arabia’s editor-in-chief Manuel revealed the much-awaited February 2024 cover to Hai Vogue‘s special guests, calling the cover stars on stage to celebrate their efforts. Shot in the picturesque streets of Al Balad, the cover lit up the stage in honor of the very surroundings where it was captured.

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Hai Vogue Day 1: The insightful fashion talk

Among the most interesting sessions on Day 1 of Hai Vogue was a special fashion conversation between Saudi designers Yousef Akbar, Mohammed Khoja of Hindamme, and Alia and Abeer Oraif of Atelier Hekayat. The creatives shared a stage with Lama Alakaeel to discuss their personal journeys in the industry, and their thoughts on fashion in the region and beyond. Here’s a snippet from their talk.

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Hai Vogue Day 1: The vibrant fashion, beauty and art installations

While fashion talks and musical performances are an exciting feature of Hai Vogue, the colorful installations spread across the venue of the festival were a major hit among guests. For art lovers, there was no missing the Jazeera Paints wall, which featured beautiful graffiti by artist Noura bin Saidan and came accompanied by the brand’s Color Trends 2024 panel and free mini paints.

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Coming to fashion, Michael Kors and Birkenstock’s stations showcased some of their latest must-have pieces, while Aigner invited guests to enjoy the perfect photo opportunity with their flower-detailed swing and Steve Madden hosted interactive games for all. In the beauty realm, Dyson gave guests a chance to enjoy their own Vogue moment by creating a magazine cover-inspired photo space, while fragrance brand House of Creed handed out refreshing ice lollies and mini editions of its perfumes. Kiko Milano’s iridescent installation invited guests over for face painting sessions, while Saudi Arabia’s Asteri Beauty handed out lipsticks and invited guests to write inspiring messages using their products on their life size mirror wall.

For those who were ready to indulge in a little competition at Hai Vogue, Jimmy Choo’s sprawling pink pong table was the place to be. Vogue Arabia’s colorful mini golf corner and basketball half courts drew quite the crowd, and not too far away, Netflix’s Al Rawabi School for Girls-inspired installation got everyone geared up about meeting Season 2’s cast tonight.

Hai Vogue Day 1: The musical performances

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Day 1 of Hai Vogue was full of exciting musical sets. Saudi pop star Mishaal Tamer serenaded the crowd with his hottest tracks including ‘Disco Cowboy’ and ‘Mister Mister’, while DJs Hifi, Cosmicat, and Malkin doused the venue in their iconic beats. The musical performances came to a close with Sudanese rapper Dafencii, who had the audience jumping in unison to his lyrics into the wee hours of the night.

Hai Vogue Day 1: More highlights

What’s a festival without scrumptious food? From Gravity Burgers to mouth-watering fries at Kechtup and coffees by Brew 92, Hai Vogue’s food corner had it all. Visitors took breaks from shopping and collecting freebies by loading up on snacks and street food, and VIP guests headed over to their private terrace lounge area, complete with majlis-style seating, canapés and drinks, from where they enjoyed a bird’s eye view of the entire festival.

Below, a closer look at the best moments from Day 1 of Hai Vogue.