Manama: A town in Northern Saudi Arabia is celebrating local talent, but with a difference: No songs, no musical instruments and no dances.
Building on the popular programmes America’s Got Talent and its Arabic version, Arabs Got Talent, Buraydah, the capital of Al Qassim Province in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, has included, for the first time, a talent show in its open-air summer festival.
“Do you have a melodious voice? Do you have a skill? Have you got talent? Join us in the first edition of Buraydah’s Got Talent at the Youth Show Plaza following the Eisha (evening) prayers,” the brochure said.
However, it insisted that “musical instruments, music and dances are strictly forbidden”.
Women, in accordance with the local tradition of the conservative town of 610,000 residents, do not attend the public gathering Wanassa 33.
The Buraydah’s Got Talent show, held on Thursday and Friday, was staged in an open-air area and had a judge panel that included a poet, a TV producer, and two presenters. Their views were complemented by the views of the spectators.
Participants, a mixture of young and older men, read out poems and displayed special physical skills.
In comments about the unprecedented show, local residents said that they welcomed the idea of discovering talent and staging social events.
“We wish all participants the best of luck,” Abdul Malik Al Washmi posted on the festival forum site. “We are all excited to discover rare talents in Buraydah’s Got Talent.”
Jalawi Al Shukair, the forum’s managing director said that there would be “valuable prizes” for the winners.
The Buraydah festival, scheduled to last 24 days, also features a drifting show, football matches and sports competitions.
“The festival is offering great activities and we annually see a steady development with greater work and better arrangements that make us really proud,” Prince Faisal Bin Bader Bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Al Qaseem, said as he opened the festival.
