Saudi Arabia is celebrating the 87th anniversary of its foundation this weekend with a big programme of concerts and performances, including a pageant operetta on Saturday evening which allowed women to enter the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh for the first time.
The festivities are part of a government move to boost national pride and improve quality of life for Saudis.
Also on offer is a concert in the Red Sea city of Jeddah featuring 11 Arab musicians, plus fireworks, air acrobatics and traditional folk dance shows.
Several thousand families entered the stadium - where top football matches are held - through a separate gate from single men. They cheered, flashed peace signs and waved green Saudi flags.
A toddler wore a shirt that said in English "I (heart) Saudi Arabia" while a little girl donned a green dress with the faces of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed printed on it. A young man recited a poem praising the 82-year-old monarch.
The events are the latest entertainment sponsored by the government as part of the Vision 2030 reform programme launched two years ago to diversify the economy away from oil, create whole new sectors to employ young citizens and open up lifestyles.
King Salman marked the holiday on Twitter, writing: "The kingdom will remain a bulwark for those who love benevolence, their religion and their country."
The operetta on Saturday told the story of the founding of the modern Saudi state by Ibn Saud, King Salman's father, following a series of territorial conquests and eight years before the discovery of oil opened the way to making the new kingdom the world's top oil exporter.
The performance, which praised the kingdom's religious and martial past while looking ahead to more development, featured horses, camels and hundreds of men dancing with swords and drums. An unveiled woman and two dozen girls joined them onstage.
Pyrotechnics, dancing fountains and lasers elicited cheers from the crowd which snapped photos on their smartphones.
The final segment featured pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed visiting troops, meeting world leaders, watching a football match.
Saudi flags and green billboards, often bearing the faces of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed, have gone up across Riyadh this week, and at night skyscrapers are flooded in green light - the national colour.
Companies from telecoms operators to furniture stores have launched patriotic-themed marketing campaigns offering discounts for the holiday weekend.
The General Entertainment Authority, the government agency organising the National Day festivities, expects some 1.5 million Saudis to attend events in 17 cities over four days.