RIYADH: The Kingdom's second Baloot championship, sponsored by the General Sport Authority, ends today at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Olympic Stadium.
The 12-day tournament has had 2,480 participants, selected from a random lottery system, and more than 140,000 registered. The participants were of different generations and from different parts of the Kingdom, all united by their love for the popular Saudi card game.
Abdulkarim Al-Shiha, one of the supervisors on the judging committee, told Arab News that it had been a triumph in organization to get all players to play under one system as the rules are slightly different from region to region, and even from household to household.
He said the tournament was not short of excitement and sometimes the results were one-sided when participants lost without scoring any points. "There were times that I encountered when a participant refused to play because when he sat down at the table he found he would be playing against his uncle and would have to forfeit out of respect for his elder,” Al-Shiha said, adding that there was a father-and-son team who played well but came short and were eliminated.
The winning team were given SR1 million ($0.26 million), the second SR500,000, the third SR300,000, and the fourth SR200,000.
Baloot is believed to have been brought to Hijaz by Indian immigrants at the time of the Ottoman Empire, and then spread all over the country when it was unified under the Saudi rule.
Nearly 2,500 compete in Saudi Arabia’s second Baloot championship
Nearly 2,500 compete in Saudi Arabia’s second Baloot championship
- The winning team were given SR1 million ($0.26 million), the second SR500,000, the third SR300,000, and the fourth SR200,000
Children’s Theater Festival opens in Qassim region
- To develop future ‘cultural architects,’ says CEO Khaled Al-Baz
- ‘Nurture creativity, aesthetic awareness and sense of belonging’
BURAIDAH: The Qassim Children’s Theater Festival opened on Tuesday bringing together professionals from across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
The event is being held under the patronage of Prince Dr. Faisal bin Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, governor of Qassim, at the Science Center in Unaizah governorate.
It has been Organized by the Theater and Performing Arts Association and executed by the Unaizah Theater Association, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Running until Jan. 31, it features shows, panel discussions, as well as training workshops to develop children’s theater and strengthen professional skills in the field.
Khaled Al-Baz, CEO of the Theater and Performing Arts Association, told the SPA the festival forms part of a broader strategy to position children’s theater as a distinct cultural sector.
“Children today constitute genuine audiences — tomorrow’s cultural architects,” Al-Baz said.
Ahmed Al-Humaimidi, president of the Unaizah Theater Association, said it was an investment in young people, noting that it extends beyond performances to include cultural and educational programming.
He said the initiative aims to nurture creativity, aesthetic awareness and a sense of belonging, while also identifying emerging talent and encouraging knowledge exchange among theater practitioners.
“Our association recognizes children’s theater as foundational to cultivating aware, creative character,” he said.
The festival serves as both an artistic showcase and a platform for professional dialogue, reflecting the Kingdom’s expanding cultural landscape and growing focus on children’s theater as an educational and cultural tool, the SPA noted.
This occurs alongside support for signature initiatives and performing arts promotion as quality-of-life enhancement.
