More than 800,000 visitors took to Madinah’s King Fahd Central Garden last week to witness an impressive flower carpet during Madinah’s annual flower festival.

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman inaugurated the festival, which also attracted locals from nearby cities.

“The flower carpet contained thousands of different varieties of flowers,” said Salamah Al-Luhaibi, assistant secretary at the mayoralty.

“The festival’s activities included an ‘intellectual village’ and a young farmers presentation, in addition to a contest for the best flower formation or bouquet,” he said. “There was also a contest for the best photo taken at the festival’s garden.”

The festival was timed to coincide with the planting of seasonal flowers and spring break.

“A host of programs were featured in the festival, including educational programs and art shows,” he said. “Women also conducted awareness campaigns on recycling. They also showcased their handicrafts through the 11 exhibition stalls at the festival.”

He said that the theme for this year’s festival was cultivating the best ideas from the simplest elements.

“We wanted to make people aware of the importance of recycling,” he said. “Specialists were available in the field to train visitors on how to implement similar ideas in cost-effective ways. The mayoralty also intensified garbage collection and cleanliness inspections at the garden.”

The mayoralty said that next year’s celebration will be held in a larger area, in addition to new locations that are being built in King Fahd Garden, such as the open theater and the “Madinah Quarter,” to allow for wider participation from other government agencies.