Riyadh – King Abdul Aziz Falconry Festival (3rd edition) was launched Saturday morning in “Melhem” district, north of Riyadh. The festival, organized by the Saudi Falcons Club, will run until December 12, with the participation of elite Saudi and international falconers.
SFC has announced the total prizes of Al Melwah and Mazayen competitions, held during the festival, will reach SR 22.7 million. Distributed over seven rounds, SR 4.2 million is allocated for Mazayen competition, where top three winners will win a prize of SR 600,000 each.
Remaining amounts will be allocated to the popular “Da’ao” 400 meters competition. It will be divided into two categories: falcon owners and professionals, with special qualifying rounds for Saudi and international falconers. Total prizes for Saudi owners amount to SR 2.357.500, in addition to SR 2.010.000 for the qualifying rounds of Saudi professionals. Final rounds “cups” for Saudi falconers and professionals will reach SR 10.600.000.
SFC allocated SR 960.000prizes for qualifying runs of international owners, while prizes of international professional qualifying runs reached SR 1.380.000 and prizes for cups’ rounds for international owners and professionals amounted to SR 1.200.000.
It is noteworthy that King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival is the largest of its kind in the world, and it targets all categories of falcons by participating in the Al-Melwah and Mazayen competitions. Six types of falcons will participate in the Melwah competition, which are: Al-Har, Al-Shaheen, Gir Shaheen, Taba Gir, Qarmousha Gir, and Ger Pure.
The draw was conducted electronically to randomly set falcons order in the rounds, which are divided into categories of owners and professionals (Saudis & internationals). Number of Saudi qualifying runs in Al-Melwah is 35 participants, of which 23 are for owners, and 12 are for professionals. The draw for the internationals will be announced later, which is 12 rounds for owners and same for professionals.
Seven participants from each qualifying round will proceed for the cups stage in Al-Melwah, and the top ten winners from each round will be honored daily. Final rounds that take place under the name of King Abdulaziz Cup will see for the first time in the festival’s history a new round for local falcons.
The third edition of the festival will be held in implementation of the directives of Crown Prince HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman, General Supervisor of the Saudi Falcons Club, to preserve the cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia and to achieve one of Vision 2030 goals.
The Saudi Falcons Club orginzes the festival activities amid stringent precautionary and preventive measures related to COVID-19, as the club confirmed that the safety of the participants, workers, and visitors of the festival is a top priority for the club’s officials, stressing the importance of adhering to all health precautions by all those present.