The UAE Pavilion at the Okaz Souk Festival, held in the city of Taif, Saudi Arabia, received more than 50,000 visitors during the last Friday and Saturday, where visitors enjoyed popular performances such as Razza and Yawla, handicrafts, popular cuisine inspired by Emirati cuisine, and a range of cultural and heritage activities. The history of the UAE is abundant.
The UAE participates in the festival with a pavilion supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development in cooperation with the UAE Embassy in Saudi Arabia in cooperation with a number of institutions, official bodies and folklore associations concerned with the preservation of cultural heritage.
The Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, Noura Bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, stressed that the volume of interaction with the UAE's participation in the Okaz Souk Festival reflects the depth of fraternal relations with the Saudi people, and the march of cooperation full of giving and creativity between the two brotherly countries, noting that the Okaz Souk Festival is an annual platform to create cultural communication. It is interrupted with cultural institutions and the Saudi public, and allows various countries to highlight their rich heritage and history.
She added: “Our participation in the Okaz Souk Festival contributes to highlighting the UAE's heritage and promoting it in one of the most prestigious cultural events in the world, enhancing communication and integration efforts with the cultural heritage in Saudi Arabia, and developing distinctive cultural relations between the two countries in the light of a common history, similar values and a culture stemming from One source".
The UAE pavilion shows the successful experience of the UAE in registering a number of UAE heritage pillars in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Saqqara, Sadu, Tigrudah, Al Ayala, Arab Coffee, Majlis, Razza and Al Azi, in addition to highlighting the various forms of cultural and popular heritage of the UAE.
The pavilion in the Arab neighborhood of Okaz Souk embodies an honorable history and a bright present through a unique architectural style that blends the past with the urban renaissance of recent years.
The pavilion will also showcase the UAE's most popular folklore, featuring folkloric performances deep in Arab origin, such as Harbiyeh, Al Ayala and Al Yawla.
On the journey of visitors to the UAE Pavilion, everyone will enjoy the most popular and popular Emirati cuisine of quality, fame and privacy, such as: Al Maleh, Al Qushaid, Mash, Juraish, Luqaimat, Al Jabab, Khanfaroosh, Sajoo and the famous Emirati Alqimat.
Productive families in the department stores showcasing the UAE's top brands of perfumes, fronds, handicrafts, jewelery and the famous UAE burqas.
The Okaz market is one of the most important cultural, heritage and economic events and the oldest in the Arabian Peninsula, as it originated decades ago in the pre-Islamic era. The market retained its prestige as an annual gathering of Arab tribal leaders and elders, poets, major traders and the general public. Poetry competitions, trade markets, equestrian competitions and fencing were held.
Modern Saudi Arabia has been interested in reviving these kinds of historical cultural events and has sought to develop them.The Okaz Souk has been transformed into a cultural and literary festival that attracts more than 800,000 visitors annually to celebrate the ancient and modern Arab cultural heritage through art exhibitions, museums, art, photography and workshops.
Arab neighborhood
The UAE Pavilion, along with 10 other Arab countries nearby, is the latest event in the Okaz Souk, the Arab district, which confirms Taif's status as one of the most important Arab tourist destinations that host families from all Arab countries, throughout the month of August through the 'Taif Season'.