He will also lay the foundation stone for construction work at the famous market in Al-Arafa district, worth more than SR36 million.
Members of the Souk’s High Supervisory Committee will also attend the function. They include Minister of Education Prince Faisal ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities Chairman Prince Sultan ibn Salman and Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Mohieddin Khoja, who will also deliver the opening speech.
Prince Khaled will lay the foundation stone for the construction of the Souk Okaz tent, which covers an area of 4,000 square meters and includes a hall accommodating more than 3,000 people. It will be built by the Binladin Group in time for the next season.
Souk Okaz was a traditional place where pre-Islamic poets used to meet and recite poetry. The best of these poems would be dangled on Kaaba walls. There are seven poems called Sabaa Muallaqat from great Arabic poets taught to literary students. The souk’s High Supervisory Committee had selected seven winners for their annual Souk Okaz awards. The Lebanese poet Shawki Bazaia Mustapha won the main poetry prize for his poem “An Obituary for Dust.”
The young poet prize went to Naji ibn Ali Harabah of Saudi Arabia. Saudi painter Muhamamd Ibrahim Al-Rabat won the award for painting while Sabah Al-Arbili, a Briton living in Qatar and Iraqi Muthana Al-Obaidi shared the award for Arabic calligraphy.
The over-18 photographers’ prize went to Ibrahim Hilmi from Egypt, while Saudi girl Bayan Ahmad Basri won in the under18s category. Their photographs won for best capturing the beauty of Islamic architecture. Activ-ities throughout the five-day event include handicrafts, popular food, goods from productive families, plays in traditional Arabic language, poetry, equestrian, folklore dances, camel caravans, traditional sports, antiquities and paintings. More than 300 people will participate in these activities.
At least 12 seminars on literary critiquing will be organized, including a special event on the poetry of famous pre-Islamic poet Tarafa ibn Al-Abd. “Experiments of Arab Authors” and “The Economic History of Souk Okaz” are among the titles of debates to be held during the festival. A book show for Arab writers will also be organized.
