Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Merkaz Jeddah festival for shopping and recreation amazed visitors with various entertainment activities and four large commercial expos.

The festival aimed to support Saudi entrepreneurs and productive families by giving them a platform to showcase their products. The festival was held at the Jeddah International Center for Conferences over the weekend.

The festival was largely an entertaining event and a great opportunity for Saudi businessmen and women and productive families, as well as national and international companies, to showcase their products and services, such as arts, jewelry, accessories, clothing, food, decor, makeup and entrepreneurship.

The festival also featured special costumes with many merchants wearing traditional outfits while representing their products.

The venue had a huge playground with full of sporting activities for children. Children's cultural shows were presented on stage with several performances of classical Hijazi heritage dances.

The Merkaz festival had four major expos with more than 150 pavilions. The expos included a display of health and beauty products, a fashion fair with the latest clothing and jewelry, and the home decor expo with a variety of home appliances, optical arts, and handmade crafts.

The last was an outdoor expo of food and drinks where visitors could savor their choicest traditional cuisine and fresh juices sold through food trucks while enjoying classical music in a harmonious setting.

A group of young Saudi businesswomen gathered with their “Thursday Cheesecake”, where they displayed and sold homemade sweets and desserts. One of them, Hind Bataweel, said: “We are here to be able to reach out to more people and promote our products, and to see what is new in the international market.

Merkaz Jeddah festival happens once a year, conducted by the Middle East Marketing Group. The group's director, Hani Al-Dhahiri, told the Saudi Gazette: “The main goal of the festival is to support and highlight the youth talent and Saudi handmade products”.