Atareek festival ends, having witnessed 500,000 visitors

The fourth edition of the 10-day Jeddah Heritage festival Atareek concluded on Saturday; it witnessed more than 500,000 visitors.
The festival included a group of international shows and about 65 events combining entertainment with the old traditions of Jeddah.
The panoramic dome where visitors watched a surround-system 7-minute show on the history of the city was very popular with the public.
The word “Atareek” literally translates as a “lantern” used to illuminate streets, houses and alleys.
This Hijazi term is also used to refer to Old Jeddah.
As the festival coincided with the spring holiday, people from all over the Kingdom and neighboring countries poured into Jeddah, the “Bride of the Red Sea” as the locals call it.
Historic mosques and old markets, or souks, offered a variety of commodities that cannot be found elsewhere.
The aim of the festival is to strengthen the Kingdom’s position as a source of Arab and Islamic culture, literature, history and heritage, and to contribute to linking the past to the present.
It also aims to highlight the historical region of Jeddah and introduce the visitors to its monuments and historical heritage, to develop a culture that preserves and revive the customs and traditions of its people, in addition to making it a tourist destination for families and visitors to the city.
The festival’s first edition started in the spring of 2014. It is considered the first Saudi festival to attract over 3 million visitors in its third edition.
According to the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), Old Jeddah dates back to the era before Islam.
The turning point in its history came during the reign of Caliph Uthman bin Affan, in 647CE, who ordered Jeddah to be the sea port of holy city of Makkah in order to facilitate regional commerce as well as to receive Haj and Umrah pilgrims.