24 October 23, 2015 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Discovering Agenda

Dubai: through October 15th- 24th Comedy shows are performed around the city in the Dubai extreme sports Comedy Festival. The festival will host comedians such as Dave Chapelle, Trevor Noah, who was recently selected to host The Khaled Abdel Malek and assurance. When he went back Daily Show, and comics from down, enthusiasm and happiness around the world. The festival were splashed across his face. aims to promote local and Arabic Beirut “This site is called Harissa. It is comedic talents by presenting a also known as Shir al Ribez. It is number of local comics oey Abou Jaoudeh was personally my favorite site dwarfed by the huge rock in Lebanon, offering a multitude London: he was ascending, overlook- of super cool routes from easy to October 20th-November 8th ing the Tannourine valley. medium and very difficult, all with Facing the Mediterranean to magnificent views,” the climber ex- The Nour Festival of Arts shines Jthe west, the imposing cliff offers plained as he started ascending a dif- light on the best of contempo- a breathtaking view of the valley, ferent route. rary Middle Eastern and North many hundreds meters below the He said he never got the chance African arts and culture each climbing site. to climb the multiple- route October and November in venues Although Lebanon is not known of 300 metres called Mon Coeur across Kensington and Chelsea for extreme sports, such as climbing s’envole (French for “my heart in London. The festival has a rich and , the adrenaline-rous- flies”), the longest of the Harissa- programme featuring exhibi- ing exercises have gained popularity Tannourine climbing routes. tions, music, film, food, talks in recent years. “Every time we’d finish warming and dance. Abou Jaoudeh, a 28-year-old ar- up, doing the easy short routes, it chitect, has become an avid enthu- was too late to start it!” Abou Jaou- Tunis: siast of challenging sports, including deh said with a sigh. November 4th-8th . “I started climbing He said he has no specific climb- three years ago in an indoor gym, ing partner although ascents are The fifthDream City, a biennial, then directly switched to scaling preferably done in pairs or groups multidisciplinary celebration of outdoor crags and fell in love with for safety reasons. contemporary art takes place in it,” he said. “We are a small group of friends public space. The event includes According to Abou Jaoudeh, the that usually go climbing together. movie projections, theatre number of outdoor sports partici- The Lebanese Climbing Association performances, music concerts, pants, especially mountain climb- has done a great job by setting up art exhibitions and more. This ers, has been rapidly increasing over new (climbing) routes and expand- edition’s theme is Art and Social the past two years after renowned ing the community of climbers,” Connection. Artists from Africa, masters of the sport visited Leba- Abou Jaoudeh said. the Middle East and Europe will non, exploring sites and rigging “My advice for new climbers is to participate. climbing routes. train hard and always abide by the safety rules. Be eco-friendly and Dubai: Only a two-hour raise the bar higher for future gen- November 5th-7th eration.” drive from Beirut, Just a short distance from Tann- The Dubai Fitness Fest is an event Tannourine ourine al-Faouqa, the small village aimed at bringing people from of Balaa is home for one of the most el-Faouqa, is at around Dubai to one place to beautiful natural wonders of Leba- spend outdoors with fun and more than 1,500 non, the Three Bridges Chasm, also sports activities. Families are metres above sea known as Balou Balaa, a 255-metre- encouraged to bring children deep sinkhole and caves carved out so they can participate in the level. of ancient limestone over millions of activities. Dubai Fitness Fest years by winter melt water. will host endurance, fitness and “They also gave technical knowl- Overhanging the enormous strength competitions for every edge and moral support to a once- mouth of the chasm are three natu- Abseiling Balou Balaa sinkhole also known as the chasm of the three bridges. ability level, shows, martial arts shy community of alpinists,” he ral bridges, suspended above each and boxing demonstrations, said. other over a height of 100 metres. instruction, free classes, meet Only a two-hour drive from Bei- The best time for visiting is in around a big boulder, I started my was one of the highest difficulty and greets with famous athletes, rut, Tannourine el-Faouqa, at more spring when the mountain snow descent sliding with my feet against grades possible in climbing. seminars, stands and retail than 1,500 metres above sea level, is melts and crystal ribbons of water the rock side for about 15 metres, Baba noted with sadness that outlets. next to a reserve of Lebanon’s famed flow down the drop and shoot out then, I was dangling in the air some Balou Balaa was becoming a popu- cedars in the northern part of Mount through three separate holes, pro- 80 metres above the mouth of the lar weekend summer destination, Tunis: Lebanon. viding stunning images. chasm… I was literally flying behind drawing picnickers who are littering November 21st-28th The sky was superbly blue with a It is a 15-minute walk to reach the roaring waterfall. the place. few clouds hovering over the peak, the sinkhole from the car park. “The view was hallucinating! “It gets really crowded in sum- The Carthage Film Festival is an giving a stunning contrast with the Tarek Baba, his wife and two grown From the bottom I could see my wife mer, endangering the site, which annual festival showcasing films greyish face of the limestone. Abou children are “fanatics” of extreme like a spider sliding down the solid should be a protected natural her- from the Maghreb, Africa and the Jaoudeh chose to climb a “5b+” sports and for them abseiling in ex- static rope.” itage. We found plenty of rubbish Middle East. In its 26th edition, route, which is medium-level diffi- ceptionally difficult spots is a regu- The site was recently escalated by at the bottom of the waterfall,” he the 2015 festival will take place culty in the French scale of climb- lar family outing. professional climber and European said, complaining that a dam is in Tunis and other regions of ing. The open-ended scale lists a “Abseiling the Three Bridges champion David Lama, who opened being built nearby, which would Tunisia. A parallel programme climb as “1” as easiest. Letters, with Chasm is an unforgettable experi- the first climbing route in the wall cause irreversible damage to the includes world cinema showings, “a” easier than “b” and so on, and ence that I lived a few years back of the chasm, listed as “9a” in the sinkhole. cinema projections, the “+” sign are used to subdivide with my family,” Baba said. French scale, which is a ranking of seminars, debates and meetings. the numerical rating. Baba’s eyes sparkled with excite- 28 on a global difficulty scale of 1 to Khaled Abdel Malek is an Arab The 2015 Carthage Film Festival He clipped the rope to his harness ment as he recalled his adventure in 31. Weekly contributor in Lebanon and is a tribute to Manoel de Oliveira, and started ascending with ease the sinkhole. “After fixing my rope Lama said that particular escalade Oman. Nouri Bouzid, Essia Djabbar and others.

Marrakech: December 4th-12th

The International Film Festival of Marrakech showcases some of the most important cinematic works originating from within the region and internationally. The programme includes trib- utes, conferences and debates in addition to the official film competition. In its 15th edition, the festival will pay tribute to Canadian cinema. The president of the jury will be Academy Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola.

We welcome submissions of calendar items related to cultural events of interest to travellers in the Middle East and North Africa.

Please send tips to: Joey ascending the huge rock at Harissa The three bridges towering Balou Balaa The three bridges seen from the Cave of the climbing site in Tannourine. sinkhole. Monk. [email protected]