Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman on Thursday opened Eid Al-Fitr festivities in the city organized by the mayoralty. He opened the sections for handicrafts and traditional dishes at the festival, which is being held at King Fahd Gardens.

The mayoralty arranged Eid programs in 10 locations in the city, said Mayor Khaled Taher, adding that the programs have been designed to cater to the tastes of all groups of people including children, orphans and women.

Taher said a team of 500 officials have been formed to organize Eid programs in Madinah. He thanked Prince Faisal for his support to the festival and his directives to make it a big success.

“We’ll organize visits to patients at hospitals and children at orphan centers in cooperation with charitable organizations with the aim of bringing joy to their faces during this happy occasion,” Taher said.

Prince Faisal later distributed mementos to sponsors of the festival. He also received a commemorative gift from the mayor. The programs included an operetta, folklore dances and poetic recitals.

Meanwhile, thousands of faithful attended Juma prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques had deployed nearly 2,000 employees to control the crowd and meet their requirements, said Abdul Wahid Al-Hattab, its spokesman.

Brig. Gen. Muhammad Al-Shanbari, director of traffic, said his officers had worked hard to control the huge traffic and tackle traffic bottlenecks in areas around the mosque.

The municipality had deployed more than 3,000 workers with nearly 500 equipment to keep the city neat and tidy, an official said.