JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal will cut the ribbon on the Sixth Souk Okaz Festival at the summer resort of Taif today.
Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, education minister; Prince Sultan bin Salman, chair of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities; Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, president of youth welfare presidency; Khaled Al-Anqari, higher education minister; and Abdul Aziz Khoja, culture and information minister, will attend the opening ceremonies.
Prince Khaled, who is also the chairman of the supervisory committee of the Souk, commended the support of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Vice Custodian Prince Salman, minister of defense, for the success of the Souk over the years.
Prince Khaled, along with members of the supervising committee, will honor the winners of the six competitions at the opening ceremony. The winners include: Raudah Ali of Sudan, winner of the Poet of the Souk Okaz award; Iyad Hakami of Saudi Arabia, winner of the Okaz Youth Poet award; and Ahmed Al-Qarni of Saudi Arabia, winner of the Outstanding Science Invention award.
The winners of the Arabic calligraphy competition are Syrian Husam Al-Matar, Egyptian Muhammad Al-Hawari and Iraqi Muhammad Al-Nouri.
Photography competition winners include Iraqi Shoaeb Khattab, Faisal Al-Shahri of Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Owaid Al-Oqaily.
The opening ceremony will feature a presentation on the legendary Arabian poet and warrior Antara bin Shaddad, a presentation of the poets of the modern Okaz, and a dialogue between ancient Arabic and modern-day poets.
Taif University will host a seminar entitled "What we expect from the youth and what the youth expects from us," as a prelude to the inauguration of the Souk at one 1 p.m.
Seminar participants will include Prince Khaled, Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, Prince Sultan bin Salman, Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, Khaled Al-Anqari and Abdul Aziz Khoja, as well as many university students.
The goal of the seminar is to establish an open dialogue between the Kingdom’s youth and decision-makers, as well as establishing a forum for the exchange of ideas on cultural and scientific experiences. Topics discussed will include the role of youth as partners of development, youth education, youth and the Kingdom’s cultural dimension, youth and sports, youth and the media, and the role of the Saudi youth in creating a cultural, social and humanitarian bridge with other cultures through the King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program.
