PHOTOS: King Salman opens 31st Janadriyah Festival in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman opened the National Festival for Heritage and Culture - Janadriyah 31 - and the grand annual camel race on Wednesday evening.

Several distinguished guests were present at the colorful opening ceremony. They included Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain, Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of interior of the UAE, Sheikh Jassem Bin Hamad al-Thani, personal representative of the emir of Qatar; Asaad Bin Tareq Al Said, personal representative of Sultan Qaboos al-Said of Oman; Dr. Hilmi Al-Namnam, minister of culture of Egypt, and Dr. Ali Hasanov, assistant president of Azerbaijan for political and social affairs.

Riyadh Emir Prince Faisal Bin Bandar, Minister of the National Guard Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah,and several other princes, ministers and senior officials also attended the ceremony.

King Salman decorated prominent Saudi figures Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali, Dr. Abdurahman Al-Shobaili, Safiyyah Bint Saeed Bin Zagar with King Abdulaziz Medal of the First Class on the occasion.

The King, Emir of Kuwait and the Bahraini King distributed prizes for the first five winners of the camel race. The King and other guests also attended a banquet dinner hosted on the occasion.

On the sidelines of the festival, King Salman opened the pavilions of Egypt, which is the guest of honor country for this year’s festival, and those of Saudi Customs and King Abdullah Global Foundation for Humanitarian Works that are taking part in the festival.

This article was first publish on Saudi Gazette.