The centuries-old Souk Okaz marketplace and center of Arabian culture, located some 40 km north of Taif, is today a week-long festival hosted once every year in the summer months. More than just a flea market, the festival has a rich mix of Arab poetry, calligraphy, photography, bedouin handicrafts, traditional music and dance, and a host of cultural and scientific seminars.
Poetry is at the heart of the Arab psyche. The Souk Okaz offers the right conditions for poetry engagements – just as in ancient times when Arabs from various parts of the peninsula would trudge to the souk to compete in toughly fought poetry contests. Arab poets would rub shoulders with merchants reciting their work before a team of Souk judges.
The popularity of the literary programs can be gauged from the more than 2,000 Arab writers, poets and historians from inside and outside the Kingdom who participated in the festival this year.
Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Makkah Governor, who was instrumental in reviving Souk Okaz as a cultural festival, is a passionate painter and poet himself. He has initiated several attractive cash awards and prizes for the winning entries in various competitions including poetry, crafts, photography, calligraphy and painting.
In the lead-up to the festival in September this year, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) conducted several tours from Taif, often known as the City of Roses, to the historical Souk Okaz site. Tourists not only visited the place, but also got a feel of famous attractions of Taif, including its wide variety of wildlife species. The promotional tours paid rich dividends with the Souk witnessing a record number of tourists this year.
Souk Okaz is located in the very location as it was in the past. This is where tourists can find a mirror to ancient Arabia. The SCTA describes the experience: “The Souk is designed to express the history and the past cultures, while reflecting the present day modern gloss. The visitor might find a paradox combining the modern technologies with identical geographical location and past historical values.”
Typical Saudi handicrafts include hand-woven clothes, embroideries, abayas, henna works, and household accessories.
The Souk has come a long way since it was first revived in 2007. A main gate has been built to the venue, tents and camps have been put up within the location, paved walkways have been built, besides a vast parking lot. The Souk now has a theater, sprawling green lawns, sites for exhibitions, an art gallery, a stage, open areas and ample restrooms -- altogether on a locale measuring over ten million square meters.
In a further encouragement to craftsmen and craftswomen, the value of the Souk’s handicrafts prize was raised this year from SR150, 000 to SR 350,000.
With the kind of high-level support which Souk Okaz is receiving, it may not be long before it attains the status of other Arab cultural hubs such as Carthage in Tunisia and Jarash in Jordan.

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