By Saleh Shabraq

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Emir of Makkah Prince Khaled Al-Faisal will inaugurate the fourth edition of the Jeddah International Book Fair on Dec. 26.

As many as 368 publishing houses from Saudi Arabia and abroad will participate in the fair, which will continue until Jan. 5.

A number of countries will also have cultural and artistic contributions. They include Mexico, the US, Sudan, Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine and the EU.

The fair will showcase academic, cultural, scientific, literary and religious books in addition to electronic publications and children’s books.

A number of activities will take place during the fair. They will include cultural seminars, scientific lectures, open meetings with authors and writers, theatrical shows, painting and photography exhibitions, workshops, Arabic calligraphy competitions and signing of new books.

The book fair, the venue of which is located on South Obhur, is expected to attract thousands of visitors daily.

The third edition of the book festival, which ended on Dec. 24, 2017, had received a tremendous response from the reading public.

About 500 publishing houses from 42 countries offered as many as 200,000 titles for visitors. Some 150 of the publishing houses were attending the Jeddah Book Fair for the fist time.

The 10-day event, with the theme “Book is culture,” also witnessed around 50 diverse cultural programs and activities.

A major attraction of that fair was the display of a huge canvas with a total of 4,100 pictures of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at the pavilion of King Abdullah Center for the Care of Disabled Children. It was designed by more than 300 children of the center and a number of plastic artists and painters using decoupage paper technology.

More than 200 authors, 111 of them women, were present throughout the event to sign books for their fans.