The German pavilion at Janadriyah starting Feb. 3, outside Riyadh.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman is scheduled to launch the 30th Janadriyah National Heritage and Culture Festival on Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported quoting Abdulmuhsin Bin Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijri, deputy minister of the National Guard and deputy chairman of the festival’s supreme committee.

Addressing a press conference at the Ministry of the National Guard in Riyadh on Wednesday on behalf of Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, the minister of the National Guard and chairman of the supreme committee for the festival, Al-Tuwaijri shed light on the prominent activities on the festival’s program.

German Ambassador to the Kingdom Boris Ruge also attended the press conference. Germany is the honorary guest of the festival this year.

Al-Tuwaijri said the King’s gracing of the festival reaffirms the importance of culture in building nations and continuing the march forward so that the nation makes one accomplishment after the other and consolidates the Kingdom’s leading and influential role in the Arab-Muslim world.

He said it is not strange for the Saudi monarch to attend such events, as he is conversant with the Kingdom’s history, heritage and culture. King Salman is known for his keen interest in knowledge, culture and history, apart from books and publications. He expressed the gratitude of the National Guard officials to the King for agreeing to attend the festival’s inauguration.

Al-Tuwaijri welcomed Germany as the honorary guest of the festival. He said that the festival this year will witness the absence of the patron of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture, its captain and the man who came up with the idea of holding the festival in 1984 – King Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on his soul). He provided special care and direct supervision for organizing the festival until it reached its current level.

The late King developed the festival to become an international cultural platform. It became an open gateway for men of letters and intellectuals of various schools of thought, while maintaining the well-established Islamic, national and Arab principles.

He said the media are a basic partner in the success of the festival, not only in covering the events but also in giving opinions and analyses. Al-Tuwaijri congratulated the writer and researcher Abu Abdulrahman Bin Aqeel Al-Dhahiri for being chosen as the honored personality for this year and awarding him the King Abdulaziz First Class Medal in appreciation for his cultural, intellectual and literary contributions as well as his role in enriching the scientific and cultural movement in the Kingdom.

The German diplomat thanked King Salman for hosting Germany as the honorary guest for Janadriyah 2016. He considered this as a special honor for Germany.

He said Germany’s pavilion in Janadriyah will showcase the country’s culture and history. He added that men of letters from Germany will participate in the festival.

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