JEDDAH, 27 October 2006 — Residents of the Al-Qurayat district in south Jeddah enjoyed a special Eid evening on Wednesday when hundreds of residents gathered at an empty municipal land to watch a live show of singing and acrobatic feats.
The event, which was being held for the seventh consecutive year, was bigger and more colorful this year because of the collective efforts of organizations such as the Friends of Jeddah Parks (FOJP), Jeddah municipality, Express Food Company Ltd. (Al-Baik) and the area residents.
The show was held at an out-of-use municipality parking space. It was cleaned and prepared by the local people and the organizers for the show. A stage was erected and decorated with real stone, wood and mud.
Organizers also set up a number of trampolines and an inflatable slippery soccer yard at the venue for children to entertain themselves. The young boys of the district had personally organized a soccer tournament over the slippery soccer yard and winners were also handed awards.
The show began with a number of “anasheed” sung by local youngsters who study the Holy Qur’an at the Al-Zahid Mosque. The group sang various songs in praise of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the beats of a traditional Arabian drum known as the “Daff.”
Following the musical entertainment, the organizers set off fireworks up into the dark, starry sky as the audience began cheering and clapping.
The “invincible man” show was next, in which a young Saudi man performed a number of stunts. The young man would lay down over a board of sharp nails and would have his associate stand over his chest. Then he “ate” glass and concluded the show by “spitting” fire.
The show also included a comedy play about a Pakistani, Sudanese and a Yemeni who go to Cairo for higher studies. The performers, who were all Saudis, grabbed the attention of the crowd with their perfect accents and performance.
Eyad Muhammad Fadul, managing director of the Friends of Jeddah Parks, said that when the event was first launched seven years ago, only 200 people had come to attend it. But last year alone there were more than 2,000 people attending the event, he pointed out.
Fadul noted that the FOJP is in the process of getting approval from the municipality to turn the parking lot where the event was held into a public park and a place of recreation.
Fadul added that the Friends of Jeddah Parks had taken approval from the municipality and had conducted studies for establishing a new park in four months time. The new project, which received a donation of SR4 million from an unidentified businessman, would contain special recreational facilities for the youth including football fields, basketball courts, rooms for women and elders and other recreational facilities.
