Jubail’s 16th Gardens and Plants Festival will kick off on Wednesday.
Organized by the Royal Commission in Jubail and represented by the Landscaping and Irrigation Department, the festival will take place at Al-Fanateer beach under the slogan “Jubail: a homeland’s destination.”
A total of 45 institutions and companies specialized in agriculture, plant nurseries, aquariums and lighting fixtures will participate, together with several governmental agencies.
Several Gulf Countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, represented by the Emirate of Ajman and city of Al-Ain, are also participating in the event.
The festival is expected to attract more than 250,000 visitors.
The 10-day festival aims to raise visitors’ awareness about the environment through the promotion of plants and flowers, highlighting their benefits, the types appropriate for the environment and how to take care of them.
In addition to a display of agricultural products and various house garden supplies that contribute to form ideal house gardens, the festival is also complemented by several events, including activities and recreational and cultural competitions.
According to Saleh Al-Mutairi, director of the Landscaping and Irrigation Department and chairman of the festival’s organizing committee, the Gardens and Plants Festival’s widespread reputation transcends the boundaries of Jubail Industrial City due to its programs and activities, which form a mixture of education, culture and entertainment.
Al-Mutairi told Arab News that the annual festival promotes tourism and encourages visitors to take care of their home gardens and preserve the environment, landscaping area and public property in parks and public gardens.
He said, “The festival’s organizing committee has been keen to diversify and provide various competitions and activities that contribute in creating a large public base from the city visitors, either inside or outside.”
“New elements in this year’s festival include the exhibition of more than 200,000 plants, increasing the festival site area by 60 percent compared to last year’s area, dedicating a special area for festival mascot ‘Muzher’ and doubling the number of participating restaurants and coffee shops,” he said.
This year’s festival will be accompanied by a one-day landscaping forum in its first day at the Al-Fanateer Conference Hall, an event that will be attended by several specialists and experts in environment, architecture and urban design. The event will include several work papers that discuss the most-up-to-date methods of landscaping in modern cities.
Local and international speakers will also give lectures on other topics.
Moreover, several international municipalities will participate in sharing some of the lessons they learned with their audience. Subjects will cover landscape architecture as a profession and its relation with the urban fabric.
The forum aims, furthermore, to elevate the level of awareness regarding landscape architecture and their effects among professionals.
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