Prince Khaled inaugurates annual Souk Okaz festival

Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal inaugurated the activities of the ninth edition of the 10-day annual Souk Okaz festival at Al-Arfa outside Taif on Wednesday.

During the inaugural ceremony, Prince Khaled decorated Hizabr Mahmood Ali from Iraq with the Mantle Okaz Poet and Hassan Muhammad Tawashi from Saudi Arabia with the Mantle of Okaz Youth Poet. The winning poets recited their works before the prince, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The emir also honored the winners of Souk Okaz prizes. Haidar Abdullah Ziyad from Iraq, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Mustafa from Jordan and Abdulmohsin Muhammad Nasr from Egypt respectively won the first three places.

In the  "painting and a poem” category, the first three places were won respectively by Nasser Ibrahim Al-Dhubaihi, Munira Saleh Al-Hibsi and Suknah Hassan Ali, all three from Saudi Arabia.

The photography prizes went to Hassaan Mabrouk Al-Otaibi from Saudi Arabia (first place), Ahmed Abdullah Al-Shikeili from Oman (second place) and Ahmed Dhabbah Al-Shammari from Saudi Arabia (third place).

Prince Khaled then received a commemorative gift from Taif Governor Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Bin Mu’ammar.