Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The 28th Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts is scheduled to open on June 26 and continue through July 7, the festival’s higher committee said on Wednesday.

At a press conference to announce the festival’s activities, Aqel Biltaji, head of the committee, said this year’s event features around 150 local folk troupes, 40 Arab poets and 10 plays selected by the Jordanian Artists Association (JAA), according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

With activities that include concerts, poetry readings and theatrical performances, the festival is also scheduled to host major Arab singers, such as Iraqi artist Kadim Al Saher and Lebanese artists Nancy Ajram, Najwa Karam and Assi El Helani, the festival’s executive director, Mohammad Abu Summaqa, said.

Jordanian singers such as Diana Karazon, Ayman Tayseer and Suheir Odeh are also scheduled to perform at the ancient Roman theatres in Jerash, 48km north of Amman.

Several cultural activities within the festival will be organised in cooperation with the JAA and the Jordanian Writers Association, Abu Summaqa noted, adding that some events will be held at the Royal Cultural Centre in Amman.

He added that poetry will be given special prominence in this year’s edition, with the participation of major Arab poets, such as Abdul Razzaq Abdul Wahid from Iraq and Ahmed Fouad Negm from Egypt.

The Jerash Festival will also include a handicraft market showcasing over 140 traditional and artistic crafts, he noted.

Several events will also be held in Ajloun, 70km northwest of Amman, which is the Kingdom’s culture capital this year.

In 2011, the government revived the Jerash Festival, which was first launched in 1981, after a four-year suspension.

In 2008, authorities launched the Jordan Festival, a nationwide theme-oriented event under which the Jerash Festival became a component, a move that faced bitter criticism from fans, artists and associations.(Jordan Times)