Bright colors, regional flowers, and heritage celebrations are among the highlights of the second Florman Festival hosted by the Ministry of Culture in the Asir region.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – September 22, 2021 – Forums and Conferences
Visitors young and old wear colorful wreaths, collaborate, and dance to celebrate this important cultural and historical event.
The Florman Festival celebrates rural traditions in the mountains of Asir in the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia from September 13 to September 27.
One of the festival’s missions is to share Flowerman’s heritage and spread awareness of its cultural diversity with local and international visitors through art, dance, and storytelling.
The festival is centered around three themes that focus on preserving culture under the theme “Nine Years of Glory”.
The festival’s first feature depicts the stories of the historical roles of the Men of Flowers in a feature called “Men of Flowers and Determination,” which showcases the timeline of the Men of Flowers through dance and song.
The second feature of the festival will celebrate women and the important role they play in preserving the heritage of the Asir region through their colorful artworks.
Some local women can be seen around the festival grounds carefully weaving traditional flower crowns made of marigold, jasmine, and basil.
These floral crowns are a staple of the festival and are not only worn by the locals of Rijal Alma village but all visitors in celebration of its rural heritage.
These crowns made of freshly cut flowers are a historical symbol of strength, health, and immortality worn by many locals in the Asir and Jizan region.
The third feature of the festival is the “Men’s Castle”. This showcases local architecture – made of meticulously stacked and colored stone – that also uses clay and wood.
A laser show is scheduled for 60 buildings in the village that share the story of a men’s history.
At night, these buildings, 14 of which were used as fortresses, are highlighted with brightly colored lights that follow every corner of the structures, creating a bright glow from miles away.
The events are held in two locations – the first is a men’s village and the second is in Al-Soudah Park.
Al-Soudah Park features a 360-degree main stage where folk performances are held, where colorful local dresses and flower crowns have caught the attention of locals and international visitors.
Located 45 km west of Abha, the center of the Rijal Alma Festival, the site is in the process of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The center was once the meeting place of merchants and pilgrims traveling to the cities of Mecca and Medina. Here merchants traded food, grain, household items, spices, and jewelry.
This culturally rich area is home to the Village of Alm Men, also referred to by international tourists as the Gingerbread Village due to the bright colors of the stone bricks carefully crafted to create its century-old architectural structures.
Rijal Alma’ holds deep historical significance to the kingdom. It is the place where the Al-Asiri tribes declared their independence over the region and defeated the Ottoman forces in 1825.
The Florman Festival is a harmonious celebration of the environment and the rich local heritage of the villagers. The festival showcases connected villages coexisting in the environment, where people harvest flowers to create garlands and live in harmony with nature.
Few places in the world are as preserved as the Asir region, with its historical villages hidden in the mountains.
The second edition of the festival features live music, horse riding, and an open-air heritage market selling many handicrafts made by local villagers in the Asir region.
The first festival in 2019 welcomed more than 30,000 visitors with the theme of local roses.
The Florman Festival will continue as an annual event organized by the Ministry of Culture to attract international visitors.
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Source: Ukrgate
