The Jeddah heritage site has become the biggest Eid festival of 2014 with a daily turnout of more than 43,000 visitors. The four-day Eid festival “Eidna Kida” (we celebrate Eid like this) ran from Monday through Thursday.

The biggest festival of Eid 2014 was organized by the Jeddah Municipality with the cooperation of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities under the aegis of Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah, governor of Makkah, and Mishaal bin Majed, governor of Jeddah and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Jeddah Festival.

Visitors to the festival not only enjoyed the heritage site but also events associated with the traditional way of life, games, Hijazi dance, music, songs, poetry, traditional foods, traditional stalls, clothes, exchange of culture, a family theater, free clinical checkups, an art exhibition, visit of area museums, landscape photography, contests and competitions, among others. The visitors also shared their festival happiness with a number of residents and citizens as one big family.

Among the high profile attendees at the Eid festival were Jeddah Governor Prince Mishaal bin Majed, Prince Saud bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Prince Fahd bin Naif, Prince Abdullah bin Miteb, businessman Sobhi Batterjee, Abdullah Fadaaq and many others.

Abdullah bin Dhawi, president of the Executive Committee and director of local affairs, and Zaki Hassanein, the member of the committee and head of the organizing company, said that the main aim of the festival was to provide an opportunity to the younger generation to understand their culture and traditions, provide some good entertainment to the families and children with a goal to put a smile on their faces.

Hassanein also thanked Prince Mishaal bin Majed for his efforts and continuous support in organizing the event. He said that the business centers with the help of neighborhood centers took the responsibility of ensuring that the events ran smoothly with nine cleaning companies taking charge of keeping the place clean.

Mohammed Al-Yami, official spokesman for the festival and director of social responsibility at the Jeddah Municipality, said that the large turnout of almost a million visitors to the festival made it one of the most successful events of 2014 and encouraged the organizers to start preparing for next year’s festival from now.

Manal Sulbi, visiting the festival with her family, said that this was the best Eid festival ever with food, entertainment and a glimpse of history and tradition.

“Children used to complain about how they don’t have enough fun on Eid because of the huge crowds at the Corniche, but visiting the historical area and the Eid festival has changed their thinking,” she said, adding that she wished it will continue throughout the year so people could enjoy the rich history and culture of the Hijaz.

Abdul Kareem, another visitor, said that he and his family used to visit downtown Balad only for shopping but they never thought that it would be such a good experience.

“Though it was very crowded with many people coming to see and enjoy the festival, the arrangements were quite good. We enjoyed the family theater and other performances by the Saudi artists and singers, especially the famous Siraj Group of Hijaz,” he said.