AMERICAN CULTURE AND COMMERCE FESTIVAL IN ABHA,

UNCLAS JEDDAH 000016

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SCUL ODIP OIIP BEXP SA
SUBJECT: AMERICAN CULTURE AND COMMERCE FESTIVAL IN ABHA,
NOVEMBER 25-28, 2007

REF: JEDDAH 00512


1. (U) SUMMARY: With the goals of engaging broader, younger
and harder-to-reach audiences outside of the Kingdom's major
cities and educating Saudis about U.S. culture, education and
commercial partnerships, the U.S. Consulate General Jeddah
Public Affairs Section planned and conducted a four-day
American Culture and Commerce Festival in Abha, in
partnership with the Abha Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The heavily-attended event featured a gala VIP opening,
English teacher training workshops, presentations on study in
the U.S. and visas, panel discussions, Foreign Commercial
Service presentations to local businesses, art workshops for
youth, photo and art exhibitions, multimedia informational
displays, an American documentary film series and musical
performances. The festival ended with a large, public
concert performed jointly by an American music group and a
traditional Saudi dance troupe. Local officials estimated
festival attendance at 8,000 people, with over 1,200 students
participating. National and regional media coverage was
extensive and overwhelmingly positive. END SUMMARY.

TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING: INSPIRATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE
FESTIVAL


2. (U) The idea for the "American Culture and Commerce
Festival" originated during a meeting between Consul General
Tatiana Gfoeller and then Governor of Aseer, HRH Prince
Khalid bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (who is now Governor
of the Makkah Region). Together the Consul General and HRH
Prince Khalid began developing the idea and initial planning
for the festival. Patronage and support for the festival
were then continued by the newly appointed Governor of the
region, HRH Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
The Abha Chamber of Commerce also supported and facilitated
the festival organization, as did other local partners
developed throughout the planning process. Finally, after
almost two years of planning and preparation, the festival
was held November 25-28, 2007.

PARTNERSHIP: PUTTING ON A FESTIVAL AND DEVELOPING NEW
FRIENDSHIPS


3. (U) Planning and conducting a festival of this nature
would not have been possible without the positive existing
relationships, and ones recently developed, between Consulate
General Jeddah and local Saudi partners. The base for this
partnership began long before the idea of hosting such a
festival was even suggested. Thanks to groundwork previously
laid in Abha by former Fulbright participants, touring
American photography exhibitions and other cultural programs,
and the Jeddah Public Affairs Section's close relationship
with the editors of the Abha-based national newspaper,
Al-Watan, the project's development was supported by Aseeri
institutions and authorities despite the area's reputed
conservatism.


4. (U) Among the most positive aspects of this event were
the new cooperative relationships forged between the
Consulate General and local institutions. This festival was
conducted in partnership with the Abha Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, and Jeddah Public Affairs worked in close
collaboration with the Chamber throughout the planning stages
of the event. The Assir branch of the Ministry of Education
also provided key support, selecting 120 local English
teachers to participate in a three-day teacher workshop and
facilitating an art workshop for local schoolchildren. In
addition, Consulate General Jeddah was fortunate to have the
generous support of a local General Motors distributor,
Universal Motors Agencies, which provided both the space for
the event and the services of a local Saudi advertising
company. Consulate General Jeddah and the Public Affairs
Section in particular spent countless hours planning and
conducting the festival alongside these partners. The end
result was not only a successful event, but strengthened work
relationships and new, genuine personal friendships.

DANCING TO "THE TWIST": FOUR DAYS OF MUSIC, ART, COMMERCE,
AND CULTURE


5. (U) The festival opened on November 25, 2007 with a VIP
ceremony attended by the Consul General, Deputy Governor of
Aseer Doctor Abdulaziz Al-Khedheiri, the American and Saudi
planning teams, and invited dignitaries and guests. The
Board Chairman of the Abha Chamber of Commerce, a
representative of Universal Motors Agencies and the Consul
General delivered remarks, followed by a multimedia
presentation on the history of the U.S.-Saudi relationship,
live traditional Aseeri dancing, and a formal dinner

reception. The Consul General also hosted a coffee
discussion with twenty prominent Aseeri women the following
morning.

The next three days of the festival were open to the public,
and included:

-multimedia informational displays and free materials in
Arabic and English on facets of American education,
government, commerce, sports, arts and culture, and religious
and ethnic diversity;
-poster shows on American culture, values and history, and
photography exhibitions on the American landscape and Native
American art;
-an American documentary film series featuring selected
videos in Arabic and English, provided by the Office of
Broadcast Services (PA/OBS),which ran for the entire
festival and included films representing a cross-section of
American society and culture;
-informational presentations to local business people by a
Foreign Commercial Service representative.


6. (U) In addition to the continuously-running events, each
day featured special events. The Regional English Language
Officer from Cairo led a three-day teacher training workshop
for 120 male and female Saudi English language teachers.
During one evening, Consular and Public Affairs
representatives gave presentations on studying in the U.S.
and procedures for applying for a U.S. visa. Saudis who had
recently completed study in the U.S. participated in a panel
discussion about their experience as students at American
institutions. All of these presentations were standing room
only. Two special events highlighted the final day of the
festival. The first was an art workshop for local Saudi
schoolchildren, who drew pictures on the theme of "U.S.-Saudi
friendship". One deeply moving picture was drawn by a young
boy who depicted the U.S. and Saudi flags facing each other,
with a banner above the flags reading, in Arabic, "Cooperate,
we are all brothers." American musician and artist Ken Nance
participated in the art workshop and shared some of his
drawings. The second special event was an evening concert,
in which both an American music group (of expatriate
Americans living in the Kingdom) and an Aseeri music-dance
group performed to a full house.

REACHING OUT TO YOUTH


7. (U) One of the central goals of the event was to reach
out to the young people of the Aseer region. The festival
accomplished this in many ways. First, the American
officials and musicians interacted with youth visitors
throughout the event, exchanging ideas about America and
answering questions on everything from education to art to
general life in the U.S. Specific events throughout the
event were aimed particularly at youth. Students from local
schools and universities were invited by the Ministry of
Education in Abha to the education and visa presentations,
with over 1,200 students participating. At these
presentations young people filled the rooms, listening and
following the presenters out into the hall to continue asking
more questions after the presentations ended. These
presentations were so popular that many students and parents
requested on subsequent days of the festival that the
sessions be repeated.


8. (U) For younger children, in addition to the art workshop
there was also a "Children's Corner" table set up in the main
exhibition hall, offering popular giveaway items such as
Stars and Stripes pencils, pinwheels, lollipops and stickers,
mini-soccer balls, and U.S.A.-themed arts and crafts.
Throughout the festival, crowds gathered to watch children
who had come to the festival with their parents run over to
the "Children's Corner" to color the free paper American
flags and "U.S.A." baseball caps. The films were also
popular with youth, giving them opportunities to view many
aspects of American life and culture not seen in the usual
Hollywood films shown on satellite television. Finally, a
large number of youth attended, and danced at, the joint
American-Saudi musical performance that closed the event.

"I SAW IT ON TV": THE FESTIVAL IN THE MEDIA


9. (U) Media coverage of this event was extensive and
overwhelmingly positive. The Consul General's public remarks
were warmly received and favorably reported in print and
television coverage of the festival opening. Reporters
interviewed representatives of the Abha Chamber, the visiting
American musicians, participating teachers and
businesspeople, and attendees of the various presentations
E

and workshops. The Deputy Governor attended three days of
the festival, and gave media availability on each day to
different television outlets to promote the event's positive
message. Print media began coverage in the days leading up
to the festival, and continued running reports two full weeks
after the event ended. In total, seven
nationally-distributed newspapers printed over twenty
articles covering the event. Television coverage was
similarly widespread. Two national television news channels
(Saudi TV and Al-Ikhbariah) and a pan-Arab satellite
television news channel (Al-Arabiya) covered all four days of
the event and broadcast detailed reports of the various
festival functions. Al-Arabiya produced four separate
reports, each several minutes long, detailing different
aspects of the festival. One particular highlight of many of
the television broadcasts was a clip of the musical
performance in which Consulate General Jeddah officials,
American expatriates, Abha musicians and local Saudi visitors
are seen dancing arm-in-arm at the concert's close.

"EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT": PUBLIC REACTION


10. (U) The festival was attended by an estimated 8,000
people over four days. Visitors expressed positive views not
only of the festival activities and exhibits, but also of the
U.S. Consulate General's efforts to engage with Aseeris in
the south of the Kingdom and build bridges to this
conservative region. Those who attended clamored for an
expansion of U.S.-Saudi cultural and commercial activities in
the future, and the U.S. Consulate General Jeddah has been
invited to make the festival an annual event, and to "take it
on the road" to other cities in the Western Region. Deputy
Governor of Aseer Doctor Abdul Aziz al Khederi summed up the
positive reaction and what we could only have hoped for when
he relayed the following comment he had heard by many Saudis
who had attended the festival:
"Everyone...Saudis and Americans were getting along.... They
put on such a nice festival; free for everyone...we don't
understand why there is any problem between us."

"LET'S DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME": LESSONS LEARNED FOR THE FUTURE


11. (U) Throughout the long planning process and during the
event itself, Consulate General Jeddah learned a number of
lessons that could be beneficial should the festival become
annual, or be held in another city, or should another post
host an event of a similar nature. First, conducting this
event on a limited budget led to creativity -- and success --
of many components of the festival that otherwise could have
been prohibitively costly. For example, two ideas developed
in the planning stages were to program an American artist and
a musical group into the festival. However, bringing a
musical group from the U.S. was out of the question due to
budget and time constraints. Therefore, the Consulate
General reached out to the American expatriate community and
was able to find four Americans working locally who play
together in a band performing American traditional music.
Because the members live in Saudi Arabia, they were able to
speak to festival-goers in the local language and give press
interviews in Arabic.


12. (U) Rather than bringing in visiting speakers from the
U.S., employees of the U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia conducted
all of the lectures and presentations on studying in the
U.S., U.S. visas, and U.S.-Saudi commercial opportunities.
The Regional English Language Officer based in nearby Cairo
conducted the English teacher training, which also helped
keep costs down. Leveraging Fulbright Alumni connections,
Jeddah Public Affairs recruited a panel of Saudis from Abha
who had recently studied in the U.S. to participate in a
panel discussion for students thinking about studying in the
U.S. A Fulbright Alumnus also acted as an intermediary in
organizing the art workshop for children -- working with the
local schools to identify children to participate -- which
helped the Consulate General to avoid complications often
encountered with the Ministry of Education and other
authorities when trying to work directly with public schools
in the Kingdom.


13. (U) Finding space for the event presented another
challenge. There were no free public venues available in
Abha, and the only location with a suitable space was a local
hotel that wanted to charge an outrageously high fee for its
space. Consulate General Jeddah worked with the Abha Chamber
of Commerce to look for sponsors who would be willing to work
directly with the hotel to provide the needed facilities.
The Chamber located a generous sponsor, which resolved two
major issues: first, the sponsor agreed to provide for the
space; second, the sponsor and the Chamber of Commerce dealt

directly with the hotel, and this simplified the formal
aspects of the sponsorship for the Consulate General
considerably.
GFOELLER