Saudi largest tiol fest fetes India 'Guest of Honour'

Riyadh, Feb 6: Al Jadria, the tiol cultural festival of Saudi Arabia that has India as the ‘Guest of Honour’ country this year, is being iugurated on Wednesday near here by Indian Exterl Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The festival was begun in 1985 under the patroge of the ruling morch. This year too King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the patron of the festival, the biggest cultural festival of the Gulf that brings to life the culture and heritage of the oil-rich desert kingdom of 32 million people.  From the rich tapestry of colours, aroma of delicacies, reverberating sound of music to insightful intellectual debates, the two-week long festival has something for all.

2018 marks the 32nd edition of the festival. Organised every year by the Saudi tiol Guard, a primary goal of this festival is to highlight Saudi Arabia’s Islamic identity, display its tiol heritage and help preserve it for generations to come.  However, Al Jadria is not only aiming to educate its own citizens on its culture, it also aims to acquaint its people with the cultures of other countries. For this purpose, every year the country nomites a “Guest of Honour” at its festival. This year the chosen country is India. The country that has been accorded this honour gets to present facets of its culture, business opportunities and scientific, technological, medical and military progress. (IANS)