Many scenes from the Hijazi lifestyle were re-enacted at the Jeddah Heritage Festival under way in the Balad district of Jeddah. — SG photos Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — For the first time ever, women in Jeddah got the chance to cheer their favorite teams during a live football match Tuesday night. While touring the Jeddah Heritage Festival under way in the historic Balad district, loud chants of "Ittihad, Ittihad" by female fans echoed around the Al-Mazloum district, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. A separate section was built for women and young children at the local playground to watch the friendly game. The entire scene looked like a real flood-lit stadium, a match commentator, players dressed up in their teams' jerseys and spectators standing on the sides of the green pitch. Aicha Abdul Raheem, a high school student, said she came along with her family to check out the festivals held downtown. She said, “We came to Bab Makkah by mistake, as we did not know the exact location where the festival was held.” After arriving at Bab Makkah, Aicha and her family were directed to a location at Al-Mazloum district, where they were surprised to discover women watching a live football match. “We simply stayed to watch the game and forgot all about the other activities and shows that we initially came to see. This is the first time for me and my sisters to watch a real match. I hope to experience this in actual stadiums,” she said. On the other side of Balad, volunteers were seen directing visitors to go to the festival location around Naseef House. The house has been transformed into a museum displaying Saudi artifacts. The festival showcased old cars and the Hijazi lifestyle as well as various folklore events and the traditional cuisine. The festival's media committee said in a statement more than 330,000 visitors had already visited the event. Hassan Dahlan, head of the organizing committee, said Haya Jeddah and the Jeddah Heritage Festival combined would surely turn Jeddah into a tourist destination. Haya Jeddah is a shopping festival held yearly in 30 different shopping centers and malls with 5,000 participants. Dahlan said organizers expect the number of visitors to exceed 1 million. The shopping festival is expected to generate SR2 billion in sales revenue during the winter break.
