The whole city wears  a festive look with Saudis and expatriates flocking in from elsewhere in the Kingdom and the Gulf, to enjoy the seasonal extravaganza,  as the organizers lived up to their promise that there were varieties of events for everyone to enjoy. The organizers saw to it that the festival included cultural fiesta as well as training, shopping and motor sport, among many others.
One out of five persons in the Gulf prefer to stay in their home countries for summer, provided entertainment is available, according to studies conducted by the organizers of Abha Training Summer Festival, which is being held under the slogan “We meet for a higher aim” with the support of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and Forsan Al Hayat at the Abha International Exhibitions Centre and Abha Palace Hotel in Asir.
The 11-day summer festival has been entertaining visitors with diversified, and multicultural education programs tailored to the needs of the varied social classes in the Gulf. Programs are designed by tourism, training and entertainment experts from the region and the globe.
“The festival is a translation of the Kingdom’s vision to invest in edutainment through well-rounded and specifically tailored tourism programs that adhere to the Arab culture and customs,” Abdul Karim Bin Salem Al-Hunainy, undersecretary of Asir, said. “Our ultimate aim is to make this festival an international one in the years to come. The festival is acting as a catalyst to boost domestic tourism in the Kingdom leveraging the natural beauty of Abha.”
Abha Summer Festival includes a diversity of activities and competitions covering mind games as well as personality contests. “We aim to enhance the position of Asir as a tourism destination on the global front by enhancing such campaigns in a bid to attract families,” he added.
The festival is quality-driven and all activities have been meticulously planned. Apart from affordable entertainment programs, people in the Gulf want activities that adhere to their cultural values, while retaining modern elements, in an effort to motivate them to spend the summer in the Gulf, instead of going abroad. This is where Abha Festival fits in,” said Ali Sharab, founder of Forsan Al Hayat, co-organizer of the festival.
The festival with “Abha brings us together” as its theme has lured over 800,000 shopping festival visitors through its events. The shopping festival is being held at Abha International Exhibitions Center in Abha with the support of Asir Gov. Prince Faisal bin Khaled  and organized by Star for Festivals and Exhibitions. It is essentially aimed at promoting trade and tourism in Abha and drawing people from around the world. On display are a variety of industrial, commercial and consumer products, as well as office items, books, cosmetics, jewelry, furniture, and food and foodstuffs. Traditional dancing and children’s events are among the cultural highlights that reflect Abha’s cosmopolitan character.
Media coordinator of Abha festival, Khalid Al-Deghaim, says his department in collaboration with the Labor Office has recruited 400 young Saudis for the festival. They are involved as tourist guides, scouts, and public relation and safety officers in addition to positions in tourism related areas.
In pursuit of fulfilling the aspirations of different social groups, many activities are lined up for the festival.  Aside from cultural, entertainment programs and training courses, there are intellectual evenings, stage plays, circus and acrobatic displays. The first weeklong international comedy event in Saudi Arabia started in Abha from July 26 as part of the summer festival. Sounding upbeat was Saudi filmmaker and festival organizer Mamdoh Salem. “I am sure people are enjoying this festival as a number of plays are being presented by noted Arab comedians. Cartoon films and a comedy competition are also being featured that surely should capture the hearts of the people. The comedy festival is one of the 18 events during the summer festival. Such activities are aimed at further promoting domestic tourism.”
The idea of the project is to focus on artistic, cultural, social and traditional events shown through comedy.  “We will focus on all categories of the art of comedy and encourage young comic talents, and build a bridge between social, cultural and traditional activities of Saudi Arabia and the world,” Salem added.
The artists at the festival include Abdullah Al-Sadhan, Nasser Al-Qasbi and Faiz Al-Maliki all Saudis; Hassan Hosni and Mohamed Subhee from Egypt; Dread Laham, Ayman Zidan, Yasser Al-Uzmah and Sabah Al- Jazayri from Syria; Abdul Hussain Abdul Rida, Saad Al- Faraj, Mariam Saleh and Tariq Al-Alee from Kuwait.  Besides, artists are hosting special events for women and children.
An exhibition of traditional women’s clothing and fashion was held as part of the ongoing festival last week. The event showcased vivid designs and colors, the materials used to weave the clothes as well as the ornaments worn by women of the past in the region.  The show also gave visitors an opportunity to listen to women’s folk music popular in the region decades ago. Some women spoke against the emerging fashion and lifestyle, and preferred to live the life that was enjoyed by their ancestors in the past.
The whole exercise of organizing the festival is to make people aware of the concept of tourism as a reflection of original Arabian hospitality.