The Castle and Valley Festival an appointment with joy

Wadi Al-Nadarah, a popular tourist site in Homs hosted The Castle and Valley Festival” between 1 – 5 August .

The 5-day festival included various cultural, artistic , folkloric and sport activities Which added an atmosphere of fun, joy and entertainment to the residents and visitors alike.

The Cultural Center in Marmarita hosted several cultural lectures for distinguished media personalities including Salem Zahran and Ugarit Dandash.

Hawash has hosted several events, namely an exhibition of flowers and traditional cuisine, featuring a musical performance by the dancers of the province club with the participation of children of different ages in the courtyard of the educational complex in Al Hawash. In addition to the second sculpture forum, which was held at Hawash Private University, with the participation of sculptors from several governorates. There was a special activity this year, beekeeping and harvesting honey in of Mashta Azar.

 A concert of the “Wounded Hero Gathering”, which included a concert by artist Ayman Makhoul at the Nasera Hotel. As Al- Mazina and its dam hosted a Water Games Festival.

It is to be noted that during the opening ceremony, Tourism Minister, Mr. Mohamed Rami Martini said in: “The festival is an annual international cultural, artistic and tourist event that contributes to the development and revitalization of the cultural and tourist reality and contribute to restore the economic activity and service to this region.”

Head of Tourism Chamber in the central region, Mr. Mohamed Khaddour, expressed in a statement to the Syria Times e-newspaper his great optimism that the festival this year will convey a civilized and cultural message to the world that the Syrians’ strong will, their culture and genuine civilization is able to defeat all forces of evil and aggression .

Dr. Tha’er Khaddour, Head of the province Council, said: “The Castle and Wadi Festival is a practical confirmation of the country’s recovery and the return of security, safety and peace to the region.

Engineer Ahmed Akkash, director of tourism in Homs, said: “the festival is but a true expression of the state of security and peace we enjoy in this province. They wanted this city to be a place of backwardness and ignorance, but our celebration today proves that this place was and will always be a landmark for art, culture and civilization”.

Salem Zahran, the influential media personality, said : ” Al-Hosn castle, during the war, was not just a historical and heritage landmark, it was a target that the terrorists were aggressively pursuing to divide Syria into small states.

Today, we say to the terrorist gangs that you want and we want, but God has done what He wants. The great Syrian people who deserve love and life, have won”.

Bishop George Abu Zakhm, Bishop of Homs of the Greek Orthodox Church, said: “The Citadel and Valley Festival is an event that has a cultural and human dimension, stressing that “we as Syrians loving our country, our leader and army will reach the full victory and restore the beautiful image of the glorious history and the deep-rooted culture of our country”.

Interviewed by Amal Farhat