JEDDAH, 8 July 2007 — Fifty children from Makkah and neighboring Wadi Fatma will take part in an upcoming arts and crafts exhibition at the Hyatt Regency Hotel from Monday to Thursday. The children will display their arts and crafts skills.
According to the exhibition’s coordinator, Aziza Abdulqadir, more than 20,000 people are expected to attend the event, people who come to the Kingdom for Umrah will represent the majority of attendees.
“The purpose of this exhibition is to teach the various nationalities that come here for Umrah about the holy city and its inception,” she said.
The exhibition will also encourage youth to work and develop a craft that they can eventually take on as a profession.
The exhibition will include traditional foods such as Balilah (chickpea salad), famous traditional drinks, like Subia (a drink made of barley and bread), clothes, folklores, and crafts.
The highlight of the exhibition will be a portion of the Kaaba’s black cloth cover (the Kiswa), which will be on display. The Kiswa is made of approximately 670 kilograms of pure silk and 150 kg of gold and silver. It costs more than SR17 million. The Kiswa is manufactured at a factory in Ummal-Joud, a suburb of Makkah.
Admittance for families will be free of charge.
