Jerash festival signs agreement with Sudanese festival

AMMAN — The Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts and the Jebel Barkal Tourism, Culture and Investment Festival in Sudan on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding.

Under the agreement, signed at the Royal Cultural Centre, the Barkal Festival in Sudan will benefit from the “technical and organisational expertise” of the Jerash festival and will exchange artists and troupes, according to the organisers.

The signing ceremony was attended by the Chairman of Jerash Festival Higher Committee Aqel Biltaji, Ambassador of the Republic of Sudan in Amman Sadiq Faqih, the Jordan Artists Association President Sari Asaad and the Governor of Jerash Raed Adwan.

The agreement was signed by Festival of Jerash Executive Director Mohammed Abu Summaqa and the Barkal Festival Secretary General of External Relations Omar Farouk Hassan.

Abu Summaqa said that the agreement came at the request of the Sudanese side, which was approved by the Jordanian government following joint Jordanian-Sudanese meetings over the last few months.

For his part, Hassan expressed his delight to be in Jordan during the 32nd Jerash festival to sign the memorandum of understanding between the two festivals.

He stressed that choosing to cooperate with the Jerash festival was due to the “extensive expertise” of its organisers.

Hassan noted that the Jebel Barkal region is classified as a UNESCO’s World Heritage site.

He said that next month will witness the meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee, which is scheduled to discuss cultural, educational and tourism issues.

The Jerash festival is held in the ancient Greco-Roman town of Jerash, 48km north of Amman.