[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Asir Comedy Festival promises harmless fun" ids="70738,70737,70736,70735"] Saleh Fareed AN international comedy festival began on Thursday at Al-Muftaha auditorium in Abha with the participation of top artists from several Gulf and Arab countries. Emir of Asir Prince Faisal Bin Khalid patronized the opening ceremony of the 2nd edition of International Comedy Festival, which will continue for six days. The festival will bring together many well-known comedians from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the GCC countries under one roof to bring laugher to the people of Asir region. Mamdouh Salem, Saudi filmmaker and director of the festival, said: "The festival is a unique Saudi platform of its kind aimed at promoting the art of comedy in all forms." He said the first edition of the festival was a huge success and this year they are offering a wide range of artistic and cultural events and comedy skits. Salem said the festival kicked off with several objectives, the foremost of which was to introduce the concept of comedy to Saudi society. "We also aimed to contribute to the entertainment industry in the Kingdom by organizing events that could attract the general public, in addition providing a platform to encourage talented Saudi comedians," Salem said. "Once again we are presenting an interesting line-up of artists. The 2016 festival will feature some of the finest comedians working in here in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries," he added. He said by taking the festival to Abha they hoped that people from other cities will also get a chance to experience the excitement comedy brings. The festival will feature live stand-up comedy performances by artists popular on all social media fronts and hosts of YouTube shows, in addition to a drama by leading Saudi and Arab artists. The festival will witness throughout the six days a special exhibition of "cartoon art" supervised by Saudi caricaturist Ali Gilani and with the participation of a group of prominent Arab painters. The show will also feature more than 50 paintings. Scheduled on the final day, the comedy awards will recognize achievement in categories such as social media comedy and standup comedy as well as more traditional nods for films and television shows. As part of the festival, the organizing committee will also honor leading comedians, including Ahmed Budeer from Egypt, Hayat Al-Fahad from Kuwait, Huda Al-Khateeb from the UAE, Abdulallah Al-Senani from Saudi Arabia and Jordanian Nabil Al
