The number of visitors to the Janadriyah National Heritage and Culture Festival exceeded 1.3 million on Friday, a security official said.

“The unprecedented crowd necessitated the opening of the Western Gate to the festival ground for the first time in 15 years,” said Commander of Security of the Janadriyah Camp Maj.Gen. Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil.

He said that large contingents of police and security forces were deployed in the festival area because of the anticipated huge crowd on the first day of the weekend on Friday. He added that no accidents, injuries, criminal acts occurred at the crowded festival ground.

Several tourism companies are organizing daily trips from all over the Kingdom and Kuwait to the festival grounds on the outskirts of Riyadh.

The tour program also includes visits to the tourism and heritage monuments in the Saudi capital.

“Tourism trips, which are being conducted by seven tourism companies from five Saudi provinces, will continue throughout the festival,” a Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) official said Saturday.

Apart from operating three tourism information centers on festival grounds, the SCTA will also offer a number of tourist guides to the visitors, he added.

The centers provide the tourists with printed material, maps and photos of the festival and tourist and historical sites in Riyadh.

To promote tourism facilities, activities and services, the commission has established five information centers at major airports which are run by operators for around 16 hours a day.

Meanwhile, more than 6,000 visitors to the festival have benefited from the health services provided by Jeddah Health Affairs over four days.

Abdulrahman bin Al-Sahafi, public relations and health education director, said Jeddah Health Affairs’ participation this year focused on physical therapy offered to the disabled and those who need physical therapy.

He said colleagues who participated in the festival gave detailed explanations to visitors on the mechanism of rehabilitation therapy, and ways to deal with patients and disabled people. They also showed visitors how to use modern physiotherapy equipment, through practical demonstrations, and under the new logo of medical rehabilitation, (disability and fitness).