MADINAH: With the opening of Madinah’s heritage festival on Wednesday, large crowds of people from across the Kingdom flocked to see the festival’s first event, a camel race, in which riders from across the Gulf region participated.
The festival — entitled “Your Fire Is Alive” — is being held at the village of Al-Suwaiderah near Madinah under the sponsorship of Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed. The three-day event is expected to attract 200,000 people.
One of the highlights of the festival is a fire-lighting contest in which 30 Saudi youths will race to be the first to light a campfire without matches and lighters and then brew coffee to present to guests.
Abdullah Al-Suhaimi, administrative head of Al-Suwaiderah, opened the festival and thanked Prince Abdulaziz for his support.
A number of tents have been erected on a hilltop to hold the festival, which on the first day also included poetry recitals.
Rashid Al-Suhaimi, Habeeb Al-Azimi, Muhammad Al-Sinani, Elhab Al-Wasidi and Saeed bin Rahma were some of the poets who recited their poetry.
Winners in the camel race received Toyota Land Cruisers as well as cash prizes worth SR100,000. Thirty contestants were selected for the race.
The race’s organizer Salim Al-Harbi said a large number of people in the province love racing camels, which is part of the Kingdom’s heritage.
“Although the Kingdom has witnessed tremendous development in various aspects of life, its people still feel close to their culture and heritage,” he said.
He thanked all camel owners for participating in the contest. “We expect more success in coming contests and festivals,” he added.
“The festival is being held to shed light on the history of Al-Suwaiderah, which dates back to about 7,000 years,” he said, adding that there would be tourist guides to take visitors on tours of the town’s historic sites.
Saad Al-Rashid, former undersecretary of the department of antiquities and a historian, said there are many writings and engravings on rocks in the town that date back to pre-Islamic times. “There are drawings of people and various animals dating back to 6,000 or 7,000 B.C.,” he said.
Al-Rashid said some of the drawings date back to the Stone Age, something that indicates that the area, which was a crossroads for traders, was replete with human activity due to its abundant water and natural resources.
He said there are also rock engravings from the Islamic period. “These writings, full of verses from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Hadiths, are from as early as the first century of Islam,” he added.
