The Ministry of Culture plans to hold the first “Kingdom’s Melody Festival” between September 28 and 30, 2023, to highlight the history of songs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and their cultural relevance to the local community.
The festival will be held at the Jeddah Superdome with the support of the Quality of Life Program, one of the Saudi Vision 2030 programs.
In this first edition, the festival will honor a group of Saudi composers who have enriched the Saudi musical scene over the years, like Omar Kadars, Fawzi Mahsoun, Saleh Al-Shehri, Mohammed Shafiq, Tariq Abdul Hakim, Talal Bagher and Abdel Rabb Idris.
The festival will take visitors on an educational journey along Saudi leading music artists. The entrance walls at the venue will display images of composers and singers, highlighting the tight relation between them.
The VIP area is decorated with paper with the shape of musical notes containing the melodies. Among the songs will be the most famous, with the composers’ names written, projecting the festival theme esthetically.
The festival’s events will include “Send Love”, through which visitors may send their greetings to and express admiration for their favorite composers, and “Shelves of Melodies”, in which songs of all composers will be displayed on shelves placed along the corridors leading to the theatre, taking visitors on an emotional journey full of memories associated with these timeless pieces.
An exhibition at the festival will present historical events that changed the Saudi music and introduce prominent Saudi composers throughout the years. The exhibition will feature three themes: early recordings of Saudi songs, the timeline of Saudi composers, and the most popular Saudi songs from the 1960s to 2000.
Concerts at the three-day festival will be given every night by prominent Arab singers; each concert will be preceded by a segment introducing the composer. On the first night, singer Mohammed Abdu will perform songs composed by Omar Kadars and Abdel Rabb Idris. On the second night, singer Abdulmajeed Abdullah will perform songs by composers Fawzi Mahsoun and Saleh Al-Shehri. On the last night, singer Abadi Al-Johar will perform songs composed by Talal Bagher, singer Dalia Mubarak will perform songs composed by Tariq Abdul Hakim, and singer Talal Salama with songs composed by Mohammed Shafiq.
This festival is part of the Ministry of Culture’s efforts to celebrate Saudi music and its artists, and to introduce today’s generation to the history of this unique music.
Source: Saudi Press Agency