JEDDAH - The Culinary Arts Commission, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, launched on Thursday the activities of the Saudi Coffee Festival at the Jeddah Superdome. The three-day event is the second stop of the festival, which represents an integrated cultural journey that reflects the importance of Saudi coffee and the cultural connotations associated with it. The Ministry of Culture is organizing the Saudi Coffee Festival 2022 in different regions around the Kingdom, with the aim of highlighting Saudi coffee as an authentic cultural heritage and enhancing its global and local presence. Through a variety of enriching activities, targeting all age groups, and exposing the history of coffee, the methods of its cultivation, and the customs and principles of its preparation and presentation. The festival highlights history of Saudi coffee, tools used in its preparation, and methods of preparation and serving them, apart from documenting its association with the identity of Saudi society over the passage of time. The festival includes four main sections, starting with the "Finjal Al-Daif" section, which consists of the activities related to the coffee tree, the green house, the exhibitors' area, the Green Gold Museum, and the children's area. Finjal or finjan is a small bowl made of earthenware and the like, in which coffee and the like are drunk. As for the second event, titled 'Finjal Al-Kaif,' it includes activities of explanations, the coffee expert, the tasting experience, and the sit-down, while the third section 'Finjal Al-Saif,' will host coffee dialogue activities, workshops, and the Saudi coffee competition - 'the Finjal Path.' The festival also dedicated a section to restaurants that include food carts and dining sessions. The festival receives its visitors with serving Saudi coffee in a quick hospitality before the cultural journey begins inside the corridors of the festival that begins with Finjal Al-Daif where the visitor will find activities and events featuring an archaeological nature and cultural content revolving around the history of Saudi coffee, in addition to roaming about between the corridors of the exhibition, before moving to Finjal Al-Kaif section to enjoy interactive experiences, before reaching the Finjal Al-Saif section. This section serves as a specialized platform to empower and train those interested in the field of Saudi coffee through a series of dialogue sessions and creative workshops, in addition to enjoying watching the contestants participating in the Saudi Coffee Competition - the Finjal Path. Riyadh was the first station of the festival during the period from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 and its final destination is the "Dhahran Expo" in Dhahran during the period from Oct. 13 to 15. The festival is one of the activities of the "Saudi Coffee Year 2022" initiative launched by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Culinary Arts Commission and with the support of the Saudi Quality of Life Program, one of the programs to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030. It is worthy to note that the celebration of Saudi coffee, and its close relationship with the culture of the Kingdom through a long history made it an authentic symbol of customs and traditions, and the values of generosity and hospitality for the Saudi society.
