Petra by Night 2027

Petra by Night runs every Sunday through Thursday throughout the year, taking visitors through the candlelit Siq to the Treasury plaza for an evening of traditional Jordanian music and Bedouin storytelling. The 2027 season continues the same year-round schedule that has been in place since the event expanded to five nights per week from September 2026 - there are no seasonal gaps, making it accessible to almost any Jordan itinerary.

What happens

Gates open at 8:30 pm at the main Petra visitor centre. The walk through the Siq - the 1.2-kilometre rock gorge that forms the main entrance to the ancient city - to the Treasury takes around 20 to 25 minutes at a relaxed pace. Approximately 1,500 candles are placed along the path and arranged around the Treasury facade, giving the sandstone walls a warm amber glow that daylight visitors never see.

Once assembled in the Treasury plaza, visitors sit on the ground in front of the carved facade for a short programme of traditional Jordanian music and Bedouin storytelling. The event runs until around 10:30 pm. The experience is atmospheric rather than educational - there is minimal commentary about Petra’s history during the event itself. What it offers is the Treasury under candlelight, at night, with the Siq rocks glowing around you.

Tickets and booking

As of 2026, tickets for Petra by Night are priced at JOD 30 per person. Children under 10 enter free. Tickets are purchased on-site at the Petra visitor centre - there is currently no online booking system. Confirm current pricing at the visitor centre or via the official Petra by Night website at petrabynight.jo, as pricing is reviewed periodically.

The event runs regardless of weather - cancellations are rare and made at short notice, so it is worth checking the official site or the visitor centre on the day if conditions are uncertain. The event can be busy during the spring and autumn peak seasons; arriving a few minutes before gates open helps you enter early and find a good position in the plaza.

Practical tips

Wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes - the Siq path is uneven and cobbled in sections. Bring a light layer even in summer, as the canyon retains cool air after dark; in winter months (December through February), a proper jacket is needed. Photography without flash produces far better results than flash in candlelit conditions, and no-flash photography is permitted throughout.

Petra by Night works well as an add-on to a full daytime visit; our Petra city guide covers the main daytime highlights including the Treasury, Monastery, High Place of Sacrifice, and the best routes between them.

Allow at least a full day for the site before attending the night event - arriving cold makes it harder to appreciate the scale of what you are walking through. Our guide to visiting Petra for the first time covers entry fees, timing, and what to prioritise.

For accommodation near the site, browse hotels in Petra - staying in Wadi Musa puts you close enough to walk to the visitor centre for the 8:30 pm start. If you want a daytime guided experience to complement the evening, book a guided Petra tour through GetYourGuide.

The Siq after dark - what changes

Walking the Siq at night is a substantively different experience from the daytime entrance. Without the afternoon sun above the canyon walls, the scale of the gorge becomes more disorienting in an interesting way - the walls seem to press closer in the dark, and the candle flames catch on the pink and ochre sandstone in ways that direct sunlight cannot replicate. Sound carries differently too: the quiet shuffle of a hundred visitors in the candlelit silence has a quality that the busy midday stream of tourists completely obscures.

The Treasury - Al-Khazneh in Arabic - was carved into the rose-red sandstone cliff face in the first century CE, most likely as the tomb of a Nabataean king. During the day the full facade is visible but subject to the variable and often harsh Jordanian sun. At night, with the upper tier of the carved facade disappearing into darkness above the candlelight, the proportions read differently - the lower columns and pediment are thrown into sharp relief, and the figures in the carved niches cast longer shadows. The overall effect is closer to how the monument would have appeared to ancient visitors arriving at night by torchlight.

If you have visited Petra in daylight already, the contrast is worth experiencing for its own sake. If the night event is your first time in the Siq, arriving after dark means your first view of the Treasury is under candlelight - which most visitors consider the more memorable introduction to the site, even if the daytime scale is harder to appreciate until the following morning.