saudi sunday: janadriyah

Obviously, Sundays are not my best days to post.  My lack of "Saudi Sunday" posts prove that.  I usually remember on Mondays.  LOL.  But, what the heck.  Let's just pretend that it's Sunday, just until the end of this post at least.  ;)

Today, I'm posting about Janadriyah, which is a cultural festival held every year in Saudi and is located just outside of Riyadh.  Imagine a huge theme park.  This is a fair comparison of Janadriyah's size.  The festival is set up into village type settings.  Each village represents an area or region of Saudi Arabia.  Most people don't realize how different customs and traditions are between different regions in Saudi.  Everything from food, to dialect, to dancing and music will differ depending on the region. 

This festival is a grand event attended by many.  Schools will take field trips, non-Saudis will visit in tourist-like groups, and Saudis themselves enjoy visiting and learning about their heritage.  The event usually lasts for a couple of weeks.  A huge ceremony attended by the king himself is held to open the festival.  This year Janadriyah was postponed and held a bit later as the king was out of the country due to some health problems.  After the king's healthy return, Janadriyah 2011 was held.

This was my first time attending the festival.  It was PACKED!  Hubby advised me to take a lot of cash thinking there'd be many things I'd like to buy.  However, it was so crowded that I couldn't even see to shop.  I was grateful that we took little guy's stroller.  It was A LOT of walking.

However, it was a great experience.  I think my favorite part was how each region played their kind of music and danced their traditional dances.  People in the audience, men and women, danced along and had fun.  Women dancing in public is not commonly seen, and this was looked at as a positive change. 

I say, dance away.  ;)

Unfortunately, little guy was not feeling well that day, I also was not myself.  That week little guy and I both had the stomach flu (which explained it all).  Because of us not feeling well, and with all the walking, I didn't get to take many pics.  Maybe next time...