The 70-day festival will stage more than 100 amusement, art, sports and cultural events under the aegis of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), Jeddah Municipality and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The festival events will begin on Saturday, the first day of the Hijri month Shaaban.

Prince Abdullah bin Saud, chairman of the Organizing Committee for Festival Events, read out the speech of Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed.

"We see today the shining image of the Kingdom's tourism industry and feel proud of its countless achievements in addition to the flow of investments to the industry because of the firm conviction in the immense tourist potential in our country," Prince Mishaal said in the speech.

The governor said the goal of the festival is to spread a culture of clean national tourism.

He added that the duration of the festival of the 2011 is the longest since it was first organized 12 years ago. 

Speaking on the occasion, JCCI Secretary-General Adnan Mandoura said the events in the festival would provide an environment of work to more than 5,000 Saudi youth in addition to providing them with favorable opportunity to acquire useful skills in event organizing and presentation and many other fields. He commended the service of Prince Mishaal to tourism, under whose direct supervision the first Jeddah summer festival was unveiled in 1999. 

After Prince Khaled announced the formal opening of the festival, the western horizon was lit up with a display of enchanting fireworks. An operetta on Saudi history and achievements was also staged. 

It is believed the festival will attract 50 percent more tourists than last year as many tourist destinations in the Arab world are roiled in political unrest.