Saudi Arabia's Souq Okaz festival will start Thursday with different activities including presentations on old Arab poets, folklore theater and exhibitions.

This year, the area where the activities will take place has been increased to 14 million square meters from 10 million.

Prince Mishal Bin Abdullah, emir of Makkah and chairman of the festival’s Supreme Supervisory Committee, will open the important event that will witness the attendance of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, education minister, and Prince Sultan Bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

Okaz Boulevard, one of the important segments of the event that sheds light on old Arabic poets, will focus this year on a well-known pre-Islamic poet called Amro Bin Kalthoum Al-Taghlobi.

He was the head of his tribe at the time and known for his great poems. A theater show will be presented in his honor in which over 200 actors will participate.

Mamdooh Salim, director of the show, said the setting has been made similar to that of the pre-Islamic era, adding that 15 Arabian horses will be used.

Every year, members of the public wait patiently for the theater show because it depicts the historical events of an important juncture of Islamic and pre-Islamic history.

Prince Mishal gave directives to set up a new award called “Creativity” this year. The award will be given to Prince Khaled and Prince Sultan Bin Salman for their contributions to the annual festival.

In a press statement, Prince Mishal said: “This award appreciates the achievements made by the education minister and SCTA president and their efforts exerted over the past few years in developing this event.”

“Prince Khaled took the event to international levels while Prince Sultan has always played a pioneering role in developing the event’s segments, especially Okaz Boulevard,” Prince Mishal said.