Old Jeddah lights up for National Day

The heart of Jeddah’s Balad heritage area was lighted up for the celebrations of the 82nd Saudi National Day with enthusiasm, patriotism and with the aim to reminisce with Saudi youth about their heritage.
Similar celebrations were held in Riyadh, Najran, Taif and other cities and villages throughout the kingdom.
The historic Nasseef House was prepared to celebrate the National Day by the Society of Architectural Heritage Protection with the cooperation of Jeddah Municipality and Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).
“We organized program with the aim to draw the attention of the public and specially our young generation toward our beautiful old city and importance of our heritage, culture and traditions,” said Al Sharif Ahmed Al-Hijary, one of the founders of the Society of Architectural Heritage Protection and organizer of the National Day celebrations.
He further said they chose the location to give maximum information about Jeddah heritage and history as this is the main task of their organization.
The old city of Jeddah has a story with our National Day. The Nasseef house is part of the foundation of Saudi Arabia as when King Abdulaziz came to Jeddah, for the first time he stayed in Nasseef house, this house has a significant importance in the history of Saudi Arabia.
“That’s why we chose this beautiful house to celebrate our National Day with historical, traditional dances and songs of those olden days of 50 or 60,” he added.
The theme of the program was to celebrate the 82nd National Day at historical ground with traditional dances “Musmar,” “Khabaity,” “Thrub Shabi,” Hijazi Dance, folklore and patriotic songs.
The heritage and cultural program of folklore and National songs, color full national and cultural dances were presented by the two traditional and folklore groups “Dimond the folklore artists” and “Shoula” working under the supervision of Saudi Cultural and Art Society.
The Society of Architectural Heritage protection Jeddah was founded by prince Sultan bin Salman with its five founders to help in the developing of old Jeddah and heritage area and give the information of its importance to the youth and the new generation.
Talal Samarkandi, another creator of the association said they are extremely proud to celebrate the national day, “We hope that today’s program will be enjoyed by public, and they will come close to our tradition and heritage. It would be a joyful and meaningful National Day for everybody, the youth will understand the importance of national day, the meaning of a country, and how to reserve the resources of our country,” said Samarkandi.
He further said it’s mission of their association to transfer the knowledge of the importance of the country, its heritage and traditions to the Saudi nationals, especially the youth and residents.
The association is working hand to hand with Municipality and SCTA in order to coherent products, SR 500 million has been allocated to upgrade the infrastructure of Jeddah heritage area in the coming five years.
Tagreed Wazna, artist and founder of the association also said they are celebrating their National day at historical Jeddah to let the public and new generation know about their heritage as this is the main goal of their society to bring youth back to their heritage and its importance.