“The Janadriah festival portrays the Kingdom’s glorious culture and heritage by displaying handicrafts, arts and tools used by one ancestors hundreds of years back in nation building,” said Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, minister of National Guard, while speaking during the inaugural ceremony. “The Janadriyah festival, organized by the National Guard every year, plays a crucial role in preserving the Kingdom’s national heritage and projecting the country’s glorious image locally and internationally,” said Prince Miteb. He said that this 29th edition of the national heritage festival began with the traditional camel race.
The festival explained as how for thousands of years, the Arabian Peninsula remained a confluence of many civilizations. Many events that had taken place in the Arabian Peninsula in the distant and recent past, left a deep impact on the entire world. Saudi Arabia constitutes the major part of the peninsula. And when late King Abdulaziz founded the modern day Saudi Arabia in 1932, the Kingdom became very influential around the world and emerged as a key player in global events.
In fact, the discovery of oil in 1938 transformed the country to a modern state, which is today called The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Many of the old ways of life in the Kingdom began to disappear and become unknown to the new generation after the discovery of oil that gave a fast pace to the development process. Saudi Arabia has modernized so rapidly that the Saudi youths appear to be completely unaware of the ways of life of their not-so-distant ancestors. The Janadriyah festival, in fact, serves a unique purpose to educate its young Saudi citizens about the country’s past and to the outside world about the Kingdom’s history. Speaking on this occasion, Prince Sultan Ibn Salman, chief of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), said “the SCTA has set up a bigger oasis this year.” The SCTA pavilion on Janadriyah Grounds featured the travel and tourism history of the Kingdom, said Prince Sultan, while referring to several new projects planned and launched by the Saudi government as well as by private sector in tourism sector.
Asked about the participation of local and foreign guests, Saud Al-Rumi, festival’s director general, said “over 300 thinkers, men of letters and politicians including local and foreign guests took part in the inaugural session of the festival. A major symposium was also be organized on the sidelines of the event. The UAE was this year’s guest of honor at the festival, that started on Feb. 12 and concluded on Feb 28, added Al-Rumi.
The inaugural ceremony, he said, included speeches of high-ranking officials, an operetta, dancing of the Ardha (folk dance), as well as honoring of two Saudi cultural personalities--Saad bin Abdulrahman Al-Bawardi and Abdullah bin Ahmad Shabat. The annual festival also included cultural activities such as lectures and discussions on Islamic political movements and women’s issues, popular market, folk dancing, theatrical activities and poetry.
Al-Rumi pointed out that a panel of elite speakers include Economy & Planning Minister Moahmmed Al-Jasser; Dr. Mahdi Mabrouk from Tunisia; Major Gen Samih Al-Yazal from Egypt; Dr. Salih Al-Qallab from Jordan; Dr. Mahmoud Jibreel from Libya; Dr. Tharwat Al-Kharbawi from Egypt; Poet Qasim Haddad from Bahrain; Poet Muna Hasan from Sudan; Poet Shirin Al-Adwi from Egypt; and Dr. Abdulhamid Al-Ansari from Qatar
The organizers expanded the event this year to allow more government departments including the Saudi Food and Drug Authority and the Saudi Ports Authority to join the show, Al-Rumi said. The festival had its customary camel race with over 2,000 contestants from the Kingdom and Gulf states competing for valuable cash prizes. In fact, the 17-day Janadriyah national heritage and culture festival drew huge numbers of visitors. Organized by the National Guard, the mega event celebrated Saudi identity by encouraging a sense of sociocultural and national unity.
It is customary to invite the head of a country as guest of honor at the festival. This year the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the guest of honor. Expressing his gratitude on his country being bestowed the honor, UAE Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohammed Saeed Al-Zahiri said: “The selection of the UAE as the guest of honor at the Kingdom’s national festival indicates the profound and solid bilateral relations binding the two fraternal countries.”
The visitors were full of praise for the superb display of the Kingdom’s rich heritage and culture, saying they were enthralled by the programs featuring an operetta, a performance of the traditional Saudi Ardha folk dance. Local arts, sword dances, various symposiums, poetry, ethnic cuisine and camel races were among the festival’s major attractions. A cultural program was held in the King Faisal conference hall on Friday.
A symposium entitled “Saudi Arabia and the Salafist movements in the Arab world” focused on the movements of political Islam, where the participants asserted the importance of Islamic moderation and unity. The participants affirmed that the Kingdom is following moderation urged by the Qur’an and Sunnah as guided by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Various ministries set up their own pavilions showcasing their achievements so far, and also hosted interactive sessions on current and upcoming projects, visions and missions to redress public grievances.
Prince Faisal bin Khalid, governor of Asir, witnessed a ceremony at the Asir pavilion and also toured the heritage and cultural exhibition. Hayat Al-Maskeen, a Saudi student, said: “I have come here before, but this time the experience is amazing with improved arrangements and better display of major attractions.” Abdullatif bin Abdur Rahman, a visitor, said: “I have found it the best means to experience the rich traditions and customs of the Kingdom with broad array of cultural and entertainment activities.” The first event of the annual festival was held at the initiative of the late King Fahd in 1985, which was traditionally a camel race.
The purpose of the festival is “to enforce a sense of religious, national and social unity” – a timely message given at a time when the region is facing many troubles. The locality called Janadriyah, outside Riyadh is the hotspot where all the action takes place. One of the oldest of its type Al Janadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival brings out all the colors of Saudi Arabia in an aesthetic way. Also, this festival has emerged as a meeting point of all the aspects of art and literature in the Arab world with all its magnitude and expressions. The prosaic literature, beautiful poetry, drama, intellectual discussions, music- all of them come in full bloom in this event. That serves two purposes at the same time--educating the mass about the richness of the folk arts and entertaining them with the performances. As far as the objectives of the festival concerned, the emphasis is laid on religious and social values, which are​​rooted in the history of the Kingdom and its Islamic nature. The festival finds a formula for cohesion between the popular tradition in all its aspects and the cultural achievements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and work to remove barriers between the imaginary literary and artistic creation and the popular tradition. The festival encourages the discovery of folklore and stimulates interest in folklore. It also helps to promote the study of heritage. A priority of the heritage festival highlighting the folklore of various regions are represented in the forms of handicrafts and traditional crafts. The festival also hosts horse racing, which is one of the country’s most popular traditional sports. Saudi Arabian horses have a bloodline that dates back thousands of years to when they were first bred here by nomadic tribes of the Najd Plateau.
Now one of the world’s most sought-after breeds, they are famed for endurance and speed. Each year, riders from all over the Kingdom vie for the prize money of the King’s Cup and Crown Prince’s Cup at the annual Janadriyah National Festival. Additionally, the Arabian Horses Festival held over ten days in Arriyadh in the cooler winter months has a variety of activities that include a 75km endurance race, an awareness program for women and children, a horse beauty contest and show jumping.
True to the spirit of his countrymen, the Saudi leaders have steadfastly supported the Kingdom’s unique role as guardian of this ancient breed. Home to over 200 purebred Arabian horses, the center serves as the world’s official authority for registration of Arabian horses and remains at the forefront of breeding, research and accreditation programmes for pure bloodlines. Each year, riders from all over The Kingdom vie for the prize money of the King’s Cup and Crown Prince’s Cup at the annual Jenadriyah National Festival.
On handicrafts front, Janadriyah is a place to visit rather a must to visit. Artisans such as potters, wood workers, weavers and carvers demonstrate their traditional skills and crafts; literary figures participate in poetry competitions (particularly of the popular genre known as Nabatean poetry) and recite historic verses, whilst folklore troupes from across the Kingdom perform traditional dances, songs and music as well as several melodramatic events.

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