Falconry festival takes off in Riyadh

The second edition of the King Abdul Aziz Falconry Festival kicked off on Sunday in Malham, in the north of Riyadh.

The festival, organized by the Saudi Falcons Club, was inaugurated on Dec. 1 and will continue until Dec. 16.

The Saudi Falcons Club has allocated more than SR21 million ($5.6 million) cash prizes for the winners of the 400-meter falcon training competition and a camel competition, which will be held at the festival. The camel competition, with prizes amounting to SR3 million, will be divided into five stages, with SR600,000 allocated to the top three of each stage, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

A total of SR1.2 million will be granted to the winners of the two-stage competition for young falcons, while SR1.8 million will be given to the winners of the three-stage competition for fully grown birds.

The falcon training competition is divided into two categories — owners and professionals and prizes will amount to SR14.6 million. There will also be special stages for internationals with prizes amounting to SR3.5 million.

In addition, SR2.35 million will be allocated to 230 winners in 23 qualifying stages for falcon owners, while SR2 million will be allocated to 120 winners in 12 qualifying stages for professionals.