Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The ongoing Ramadan festival called “Ramdanana Kida”(Our Ramadan Was Like This) at the historic Balad district of Jeddah continues to attract visitors with its various activities and events. Organizers claimed that the Balad festival, one of the key attractions of Jeddah during Ramadan, around 400,000 visited the festival one night. They were of all age groups and nationalities. Abdullah Bin Dhawi, director of local Affairs at Jeddah Governorate and president of the executive committee of the festival, said: "The influx of visitors to Balad reflects the importance of our history. The festival is a unique opportunity to celebrate our cultural heritage and bring it to life in an interactive setting, which combines the traditional with the modern. Visitors are able to enjoy an interesting experience of the traditional Hijazi lifestyle." Dhawi said this year's edition of the festival placed great emphasis on the transfer of knowledge about the Hijazi heritage to the young generation. The festival includes commercial, social, cultural, religious, sporting, environmental and heritage activities. To represent the identity of the Hijazis, who love hard work and helping out people, the festival opened the way for more than 150 young Hijazis to get involved. They welcome the visitors and guide them in Hijazi style, and also contribute to the maintenance of security and regulating traffic. Leader of “A'merni” or “ Command Me” team Waleed Ziarah said members of his team attended a training session to learn how to deal and guide visitors. "They have gone through several training sessions in festival organization under the supervision of professional staff in order to make this festival a resounding success," he said. Ziarah noted that the members of the team wore the traditional headgear typical to the Hijazi area of Saudi Arabia to reflect the Hijazi culture of clothing on the visitors. He pointed out that the festival is a great opportunity for young people to work part time and to meet and assist people in observing the Hijazi culture. On Tuesday, Prince Mishal Bin Majed, governor of Jeddah and the chairman of the high committee of “Ramadanana Kida", toured the facilities and events of the festival. He was briefed on the overall activities of the festival, which aims to revive the Hijazi heritage. He advised the organizers to highlight this important traditional event with the aim of promoting the Kingdom as a hub of culture, literature and Arab and Islamic history that preserves its heritage and artistic treasures.
