Located 40 kilometers outside of Taif in Al-Haweyah, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah inaugurated the Souq Okaz festival celebrating 14 centuries of culture in the region, Tuesday night. Prince Khalid inaugurated the festival to the roaring thunder of fireworks and announced that Crown Prince Sultan donated SR2 million for festival prizes in addition to increasing the prize for the best poet from SR100,000 to SR400,000. The opening ceremony began with an epic story of two Saudi poets lost on the way to Makkah and Taif. The two poets meet a man trying to get water from a well who explains to them that they are in the former location of Souq Okaz which used to be a commercial and cultural hub 14 centuries ago. During their sleep the two poets are transported to the original Souq Okaz centuries earlier where they are able to meet some of the most famous Arab poets. While trying to impress the ancestral poets, the two Saudi poets recite some of their favorite poems and are consequently arrested for crimes against the Arabic language. The Saudi poets manage to fall back into the good graces of their captors by singing poems about the generosity and kindness of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Arab Singers from around the region participated in singing Arabic poems as part of the opening ceremony for the eight-day festival. As part of the cultural celebrations of the festival, poets and intellectuals will host programs about literature and culture. Antique cars and traditional handcrafts will also be on display. Traditional food from different regions will be prepared by over 100 men and women. Men and women will be working in two separate tents; women will be located in a tent called Khansa, a female poet from the period of Souq Okaz; and men will be located in a tent called Nabgha Thobiani, a male poet from the same period. __
