Thousands of Eastern Province residents as well as visitors from neighboring GCC countries are visiting the Charity Shopping Festival being held in the Abdullah Fouad area here. The organizer of the two-week festival, which is set up in an open area of the Dhahran-Al-Khobar Highway, told Saudi Gazette that proceeds from the event will go to local charities. The festival has become a major attraction for families as the tented pavilions are filled with clothes, cosmetics, bags, shoes, abayas, decorative items, toys and gifts. Traditional food items are also popular with visitors. Beautiful handmade baskets are filled with sun-dried prunes, apricots, and pomegranate seeds which are used for cooking and also have medicinal value. A salesman said that other dried seeds and nuts, black and red ‘henna', and Syrian sweets are also being eagerly sought after. “It's really fun to be out here, and we have a chance to buy so many things which are not available in the market, like special sweets, antique items, herbal medicines, and handmade products,” said one visitor.
