 | | Prince Turki Al-Faisal |
Prince Turki says that Manchester is the perfect place for the Saudi Arabian Days festival because its a "very ecumenical city, where a quarter of the population are Muslims. Hence what more natural place to hold a Saudi Arabian festival?" With dance, music, camel rides, photography exhibitions and some of the Kingdom’s arts and crafts, it promises to be a great festival, complete with a Bedouin village that showcases the warmth and hospitality of the desert people.
 | | Police on camels at Saudi Arabian Days |
Alongside the fun, Prince Turki sees the festival as a chance for people, particularly children, to learn more about Saudi culture as "young children everywhere are open-minded about what they learn, and who like and don’t like. Young people are the place to go because they are the future." It’s not all for purely educational reasons though, as it’s also a chance to sell the idea of visiting Saudi Arabia to more people than simply the Muslims who go on Hajj to Mecca.
 | | Children try out Saudi costume |
As he says, "it’s a secondary aim of this festival. In the Kingdom, we’re still developing our tourist industry, but if we get more visitors to our country, they’ll be able to see the Kingdom in its real situation, rather than simply reading about it in the press or seeing small news items on the television. I think that there is a lot of misconception and misinformation about Saudi Arabia, simply because people don’t know that much about the Kingdom. One of the reasons for holding the festival is so that people find out more about Saudi Arabia." With the sunshine beating down, a few camels and a bit of imagination and who knows? Heaton Park might just pass for a suburb of Riyadh.
 | | Prince Turki and Mancunian schoolkids |
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