Taif Rose Festival is an intense visual and olfactory delight

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The Taif Rose Festival is the modern iteration of a tradition of cultivation and harvesting that has taken place in this region over the past nine centuries. (Supplied)
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Updated 18 May 2022
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Taif Rose Festival is an intense visual and olfactory delight

  • The festival has 13 sections featuring 50 live performances and folkloric dances from across the Kingdom

 

JEDDAH: At this time every year the mountainous city of Taif is adorned with the hues of bright pink roses that produce some of the world’s most alluring perfumes and oils.

The Taif Rose Festival is the modern iteration of a tradition of cultivation and harvesting that has taken place in this region over the past nine centuries.

It was launched on May 6 at Al-Rudaf Park in the southern part of the city, and is open from 4 p.m. to 12 midnight.

The Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with Taif Municipality and under the patronage of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, have organized the festival for two years in a row.

However, it has been running for the past 17 years, Arab News was told by Ahmad Al-Joaid, a tour guide from Taif who has been operating for 15 years in the field.

Al-Joaid said: “A number of new activities are added to the festival every year. Al-Rudaf Park is an area of over half-a-million square meters … a theater has also been created for the festival … Concerts (are) also a new addition.”

The ministry tweeted on its account @MoC_Engage: “Between the beauty of roses and the creativity of art, we welcome you to Taif roses festival.”

The festival has 13 sections featuring 50 live performances and folkloric dances from across the Kingdom in the park, and music shows by male and female artists.

The organizers have set up a workshop aimed at young people that provides information on how to become involved in the perfume-making industry.

There is also an exhibition titled “Claude Monet,” named after the French painter and founder of impressionism, who portrayed nature with such startling creativity. Several of Monet’s renditions are on display.

The festival also provides an opportunity for aspiring Saudi artists to display their paintings at “Cultural Street,” and drawings and other artwork at “Drawing Exhibit.” 

Many families have set up booths to sell byproducts of Taif’s produce such as rose water, perfumes, deodorants, soaps, body and skincare products, food and sweets.

The festival is also a great place for social media enthusiasts because it has several picturesque backdrops for photographs such as the Rose Dome, which contains a giant painting made of natural roses, the largest basket of the flowers in the city, and models and gates decorated with the produce.

Visitors can also view and listen to various rare birds.

Taif roses have historic, economic and religious importance. The oil is used to perfume the walls of the Kaaba, which is also washed twice annually with its scented water.

The region has more than 2,000 flower farms producing over 200 million roses every season.

Residents of Makkah and Jeddah visit Taif regularly in summer. “People can do plenty of things in Taif in addition to visiting the festival during their one-day visit …  (including) museums, local markets, rose factories in Al-Shafa and Al-Hada, the cable car, strawberry farm, zoo, and historical castles,” the tour guide said.


KSrelief completes a volunteer medical project for pediatric open-heart surgery in Yemen

Updated 8 sec ago
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KSrelief completes a volunteer medical project for pediatric open-heart surgery in Yemen

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s aid agency KSrelief has completed a medical service offering open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterization for children in Aden, Yemen, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

The initiative ran from April 19-26. Ten volunteers from various medical backgrounds were on-site.

The team performed 24 open-heart operations and 98 cardiac catheterization procedures.


Japan’s foreign minister, GCC’s secretary-general discuss partnership

Updated 11 min 47 sec ago
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Japan’s foreign minister, GCC’s secretary-general discuss partnership

  • Officials meet in Riyadh to discuss energy security

RIYADH: Japan’s Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi has told Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi that Japan “attaches importance to its partnership with the GCC.”

The two officials met in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss the Gulf region’s partnership with Japan in energy security.

Iwaya added that the GCC region was playing an “increasingly important role in achieving peace and stability amid the current turbulent regional and international situation.”

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Albudaiwi had said that the relationship between Japan and the GCC member states was of “strategic importance,” and that the GCC also hoped to further strengthen its relationship with Japan.

The two officials welcomed the first round of negotiations on the Japan-GCC Economic Partnership Agreement, which resumed in December 2024.

They also agreed to cooperate in a wide range of areas, including politics and security, trade and investment, based on the Japan-GCC Action Plan adopted during the first Japan-GCC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in September 2023.

Iwaya and Albudaiwi exchanged views on Gaza, the Syrian Arab Republic, Iran, the Red Sea, and East Asia.

They both stressed their intention to further strengthen Japan-GCC relations and to maintain close cooperation through the implementation of the action plan.

This article also appears on Arab News Japan


LCGPA honors 26 winners at third Local Content Awards in Riyadh

Updated 01 May 2025
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LCGPA honors 26 winners at third Local Content Awards in Riyadh

  • The theme of the event was “Applauding Your Impact”

RIYADH: The Local Content and Government Procurement Authority recognized 26 public, private, nonprofit and individual contributors at its third Local Content Award ceremony on Wednesday in Riyadh.

The theme of the event was “Applauding Your Impact.”

Organized under the patronage of Bandar Al-Khorayef, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources, the event celebrated efforts to advance local content development — a pillar of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030.

This aims to strengthen the economy by boosting domestic industries, reducing reliance on imports and empowering national talent.

The awards highlight achievements in meeting Local Content Requirements, or LCRs, which have raised government procurement spending on domestic goods and services from 28 percent in 2018 to 47 percent.

During his keynote speech, Al-Khorayef said that 396 Local Content Development Teams operated across government entities, while 270 state-owned firms had embedded LCRs into policies, driving their local spending to 50.7 percent in 2023.

In the government entities category, awards were distributed across two main paths and three subcategories.

In the path for Excellence in Local Content for Medium and Low-Spending Entities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed first place, the Roads General Authority ranked second, and the Digital Government Authority, or DGA, came in third.

Abdulaziz Al-Bader, general manager of procurement at the DGA, told Arab News: “We have focused on localizing industries through technology-related agreements, such as those for digital circuits, where we have achieved impressive results.”

He said that advances in cloud computing and the unification of technical specifications for government technology purchases had further streamlined procurement.

Al-Bader said that “our investment colleagues have made significant efforts, and the entity managing these investments has begun to see tangible outcomes.”

These measures, he explained, directly contributed to “a reduction in government spending on such procurements and accelerated the purchasing process” — an outcome he attributed to rigorous standardization and localized industry partnerships.

STC Group secured the top award for Local Content Preference, while the National Water Company was among other notable honorees.

In the private sector, telecom company TAWAL and manufacturing firm FIPCO stood out among large enterprises. Small and medium enterprises such as Suwar Technology and Intra Defense Technologies were recognized for driving innovation in niche markets.

Reef National Foundation became the first nonprofit to be awarded for advancing local content goals. Individuals Lama Al-Hussein (first) and Abdulmajeed Marzouq (second) earned top honors for raising awareness of local content’s economic impact.


KSrelief completes Syria health initiative, continues in Sudan

Updated 01 May 2025
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KSrelief completes Syria health initiative, continues in Sudan

  • Eight volunteer surgeons on the medical team in Port Sudan have already performed eight specialized operations

RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian aid agency KSrelief has completed its neurology and urology program in Syria, while continuing a similar initiative in Sudan, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

Eight volunteer surgeons on the medical team in Port Sudan have already performed eight specialized operations.

In Damascus, Syria, the Amal volunteer program has concluded.

Twenty-six volunteers in Damascus examined 285 patients and performed 153 neurology and 162 urology operations.

 


First flights carrying Hajj pilgrims from Turkiye land in Saudi Arabia

Updated 30 April 2025
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First flights carrying Hajj pilgrims from Turkiye land in Saudi Arabia

  • Qualified staff fluent in several languages and equipped with the latest technology will help simplify entry procedures for pilgrims

Madinah: The first flights carrying Hajj pilgrims from Turkiye arrived at Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah on Wednesday. The annual Islamic pilgrimage is set to take place this year between June 4 and 9.

Authorities are providing qualified staff who are fluent in several languages and equipped with the latest technology to help simplify entry procedures for pilgrims, the Saudi Press Agency reported, and are ready to assist people arriving by land and sea as well as air.

An estimated 1.8 million pilgrims participated in Hajj last year.