Yanbu Flower Festival 2016

The 10th Annual Yanbu Flowers and Gardens Festival is in full swing and is scheduled to end next weekend, unless it is extended as it has been in years past. 

The entrance reminds me of Universal Studios or Epcot Center, with a big globe of flowers with 

"Flower Festival" written around it.

A couple of years ago in 2014, the festival established a new record for the world's largest flower carpet in the world, using millions of colorful blossoms in the process to achieve it. 

Yanbu is just a three hour drive north from Jeddah, so it's easy to make a weekend trip out of it.  

Some visitors manage to do it in one day up and back. 

The festival attracts thousands of visitors every year.  It is well planned and well executed.  

There are sections for food, souvenirs, a recycling exhibit, a mosque, and a play area for children.  

The carpet of flowers area is simply amazing to behold.  

It's hard to believe something like this exists in the desert of Saudi Arabia.  

The above photo shows a display in the recycling exhibit.  Grade-school children participated in making creative recycled art or repurposed useful items.  There is also beautiful recycled garden art and other things like planters and furniture. 

Souvenirs from Holland are available for sale, including live plantings or grow your own gardens.  

One can climb stairways up to several small rolling hills that are covered in flowers and topped with beautiful gazebos.

 The floral display are creative and include hanging plants and water fountains. 

The event can be enjoyed by all - men, women, and children.  

Kudos to the municipality of Yanbu for a job well done, and specifically to the Royal Commission for Yanbu at the Events Garden in Yanbu Industrial City.

Can you believe that this event is free to the public?

Yanbu itself is a wonderful city along the Red Sea and worth visiting.