Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, minister of state, member of the Cabinet and commander of the National Guard, awarded a grand prize to French equestrian Michel Hikar at the end of the International Jumping Hurdles Equestrian Championship organized as part of the Janadriyah Festival.

Prince Miteb commended the support and patronage of Custodian of Holy Mosques King Abdullah for the equestrian and Arabian horse racing event.

Prince Miteb also presented the second prize to Saudi equestrian Kamal Bahamdan and third prize to Khalid Al-Eid while Jordanian equestrian Ibrahim Sharat ranked fourth and Italian equestrian Emanuel came fifth.

Prince Turki bin Abdulaziz, vice governor of Riyadh and president of the Saudi Equestrian Fund, attended the closing ceremony with Prince Nawaf bin Faisal bin Fahd, youth welfare president and chief of the Saudi Equestrian Federation, and Prince Abdullah bin Fahd bin Abdullah, vice president of the Saudi Equestrian Federation.

The two-week National Festival for Heritage and Culture, popularly known as Janadriyah Festival, will end on Wednesday.

The festival showcases the cultures and traditions of Saudi Arabia, including musical and dance performances, handicrafts, exhibitions of artifacts and lectures, training sessions, plays and awareness campaigns.

The Janadriyah Festival explores Islamic political movements. The 1,400-year-old Joatha Mosque, in particular, attracted many visitors to the festival. It also presented camel and horse races.

The photography competition exhibited around 500 photographs with a view to documenting the festival’s events and programs.

A number of games, including table tennis, hockey, billiards, basketball, football and gymnastics, were also organized as part of the festival.

Around 300 intellectuals, writers, artists, poets and artisans from the Kingdom and many other countries are attending the festival.

The Janadriyah Festival provides one of the best means of gratification for Saudis, expatriates and foreigners. It provides an insight into the Kingdom’s traditions, values and culture.

Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Salem, undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior, praised Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for patronizing the festival.

“A broad program is being undertaken at Prince Mohammed bin Naif Counseling Center to correct inaccurate ideas,” he said. “Similar centers will be opened in Qassim, Asir and the Eastern Region.”

More than 2,500 people have benefitted from this center in Riyadh.