Cairo: Dog lovers need to mark their calendar. An international dog festival is set to kick off early next month in Riyadh as part of a famed annual entertainment and tourist event, organisers have said.
"The International Dog Festival is back with five championships, thrilling shows, and exciting activities," Head of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Al Alsheikh said.
He added in an X post that the event, part of the ongoing Riyadh Season, will be held on December 2-7.
The dog festival will feature a Saluki race, an IGP dog competition (a sport testing the working potential of a dog), agility shows, a dog beauty contest and entertainment dog shows.
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More than 250 dogs from around the world competed in the categories of the festival last year.
The current fifth edition of the Riyadh Season opened on October 12, and has attracted 6 million visitors in five weeks.
This year's edition features 14 zones, 11 world championships and 10 exhibitions.
Popular zones include the "Venue" ; "Boulevard City"; the "Zoo"; "Boulevard World"; and "Seweidi Park".
Al Alsheikh had earlier said the fifth edition of the season is set up on more than 7.2 million square metres with 4,200 contracts concluded with 2,100 companies, 95% of them are local.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to diversify its oil-reliant economy and promote its tourism industry.
In 2016, the kingdom created GEA, a state agency that has since sponsored a slew of stellar concerts, stage shows and festivals.
A major annual event is the Riyadh Season, which made its debut in 2019 with the aim of turning the city into a global entertainment and tourist destination.
