Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Jeddah International Book Fair has become a meeting point of all cultures and literature from the Arab and other parts of the world, Waleed Ghazi Bafageeh, director general of the branch of the Ministry of Culture and Information in the Makkah region, has said. "I hope the fair has provided enthralling and exciting experience to all visitors and book lovers, representing various segments of society, especially youngsters. The festival of books has been very successful even though it was organized within a short period of time," he said. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Bafageeh said that more than 624,000 people have so far visited the fair, which will come to a close on Tuesday. "There was a big draw of visitors at the weekend. The people of Jeddah embraced the fair wholeheartedly and there were no negativities or major drawbacks," he said." Bafageeh, who is also a member of the Makkah Provincial Council, attributed the success of the festival mainly to the keen interest and great efforts made by the organizers under the leadership of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; Prince Mishal Bin Majed, governor of Jeddah and chairman of the supreme committee for the Book Fair; and Adel Al-Turaifi, minister of culture and information. "The fair was a meeting point of all cultures and literature not only in the Arab world but other parts of the world. Fifteen Arab and 10 other participating countries showcased books from 440 publishing houses." Bafageeh said the fair witnessed a wide variety of cultural, literary and artistic programs and shows, including seminars, workshops and poetic evening. Apart from this, there were separate pavilions for photography, Arab calligraphy, plastic artists, sessions for Saudi authors, and six platforms for getting signatures of authors, of which three are designed for women writers. He said the visitors took advantage of this festival to buy their favorite books besides having close interaction with various publishing houses. The visitors, especially families, enjoyed the nice weather at the venue of the fair, which is being held at the Events Land on the South Obhur Corniche. The ministry's pavilion has entertained visitors with distributing several books in Arabic, English and other languages free of charge. Abdullah Al-Thaqfi, director general of education in Jeddah governorate, said the fair heralded a new cultural boom with injecting fresh vigor into the publishing industry. "A large number of students and young Saudi men and women have benefited from the festival," he said while calling to make the fair an annual event. Muhammad Al-Amri, director general of the branch of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, said the fair gave a big momentum to the cultural, social and recreational activities being organized in Jeddah, the Bride of the Red Sea. "The fair has been instrumental in attracting more visitors to the city, in addition to publishers, authors, writers and cultural figures from various parts of the Arab world and some other countries," he added. [caption id="attachment_22364" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Waleed Ghazi Bafageeh, director general of the branch of the Ministry of Culture and Information in the Makkah region, at the ministry's pavilion at the Jeddah International Book Fair. — SG[/caption]
