AL-AHSA: Visitors to the Al-Bisht Al-Hasawi Festival in Al-Ahsa can enjoy an immersive cultural experience celebrating the Kingdom’s traditional bisht craft.
Running until Feb. 7 at the historic Ibrahim Palace, the event features a bisht exhibition, a rare bisht gallery, a handcrafts zone and workshops led by skilled artisans.
Organized by the Heritage Commission, it also includes international pavilions highlighting the bisht’s significance across Arab cultures.
At the heart of the festival is the story of the “Golden Threads” (Al-Zari), intricate gold-plated silver threads that define the bisht’s character and prestige.
Visitors can discover them in the Golden Threads VIP Area, where they can watch master artisans demonstrate the full bisht-making process at the Host’s Majlis, offering insight into Al-Ahsa’s centuries-old craftsmanship.
Interactive workshops, held in collaboration with the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts, let participants handle raw materials and create contemporary items using authentic bisht threads, while a dedicated children’s zone, The Little Host, introduces young visitors to embroidery and traditional motifs through play and shadow puppetry.
The festival also features the “Bisht from the Memory” exhibition, rare pieces that trace the evolution of bisht-making and nightly projection mapping displays narrating its history with light and motion.
