With a grand glittering ceremony, King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, opened the 25th annual Janadriya National Festival for Heritage and Culture organized by the National Guard Wednesday night on the outskirts of Riyadh. At the opening of the Janadriya Festival, King Abdullah toured the pavilion of France, the guest of honor at the 25th National Heritage and Culture Festival, where he was received by the French Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterrand, French ambassador to the Kingdom Bertrand Besancenot, and the participating French delegation. At the festival, the monarch also received the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Arena Bokova and her accompanying delegation. The King also opened a number of pavilions at the Janadriya Festival Wednesday, including that of the Presidency of Youth Welfare and the Ministry of Education. King Abdullah received presents from a group of pupils at the opening of the Education Ministry's pavilion. The King was briefed about the sections on King Abdul Aziz and His Companions' Foundation for Giftedness and Creation (Mawhiba), the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) and the section of the King Abdullah Project for the Development of Education. Earlier in the afternoon at the grand camel race, the camel “Hadaj”, owned by Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, came first in the 25-km race. Over 1,000 camels took part in the race.
