Jezzine: Lebanon’S Untapped Through April 25

24 February 4, 2018 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Agenda

Muscat: Through February 10

The annual Muscat Festival takes place in Amerat Park and Naseem Gardens. The programme includes poetry sessions, lectures, forums, concerts, storytelling evenings, plays, art exhibitions and other shows.

Bahrain: Through March 7

The Bahrain Fine Arts Exhibi- tion is an annual event that celebrates art in Bahrain. Every year, the arts community gath- La Maison de la Foret in Bkassine ers to present work through Pine Forest in Jessine. (Samar Kadi) different media of expression. In its 44th edition, the exhibition is presenting a collection of local and international artists residing in Bahrain.

Doha: Jezzine: Lebanon’s untapped Through April 25

Souq Waqif Spring Festival brings together street performers, puppet and musical shows, eco-tourism destination along with African circus performers, magicians and a Samar Kadi range of slightly surreal one-off events, including a human can- nonball and bungee jumping.

Jezzine Dubai: Through June 30 fter being on the front line that demarcated Is- “Amazing Dubai” is a musical raeli-occupied southern that tells the story of Dubai as it Lebanon from the rest grew from a small community

of the country for almost of Bedouins and pearl divers to twoA decades, the scenic district of a modern metropolis. Perfor- Jezzine is seeking to regain its status mances will be at the Jumeirah as a favourite summer retreat while Madinat Theatre. becoming an attractive destination for ecotourists. Amman: In the mountains east of the port February 7-May city of Sidon, the district’s main town of Jezzine and its 27 villages As part of Friends of Jordan Fes- span more than 241 sq.km at an tivals, Al Hussein Cultural Cen- average 900 metres above sea. The tre will host a Classical Concerts district boasts the largest forest in Cycle with acts from Japan, the Middle East — the Bkassine Pine France, the Czech Republic and Forest — and is well-known for its other countries. cutlery handicraft. “After Israel’s withdrawal from Beirut: Lebanon in 2000, life started re- February 13-March 21 turning to Jezzine,” said Khalil Har- A view of the 75-metre cliff in Jezzine. (Samar Kadi) fouche, president of the Union of Al Bustan International Festival Jezzine Municipalities. “In 2010, of Music and the Performing the union devised a development Jezzine municipality outsourced in- The town is well-known for its landmark that fulfils both touristic Arts is a musical celebration in strategy to reinvigorate the district. frastructure projects for revamping cutlery and daggers, a craft that has and environmental demands. Beirut. With an emphasis on The focus point of the strategy was roads and renovating the old souk. enriched its reputation since 1770. One of the forest’s most impor- chamber music, the festival pro- tourism, more specifically ecotour- It has built factories for processing The bone-handled cutlery inlaid tant projects is La Maison de la motes music from all over the ism versus massive tourism, which and marketing local agricultural with mother of pearl and copper Foret (The House of the Forest), an world and includes orchestral is very harmful.” products such as olives, olive oil, and carved in the shape of a phoe- eco-retreat built with the help of concerts, choral music, puppets, “We want to target tourists who pine nuts and honey. nix, has been presented by Leba- the European Union. opera and dance. appreciate heritage, nature and out- Jezzine, the motherland of Car- nese presidents to dignitaries from “La Maison de la Foret occupies Tizi Ouzou: door sports and activities… In short, los Slim, the Mexican-Lebanese all over the world. an area of 35,000 sq. metres of the February 24-28 those who respect ecology and en- magnate and philanthropist who “Cutlery sets were offered to 2.2 million sq. metre Bkassine For- joy nature without harming it,” Har- is among the richest people in the Jacques Chirac, Charles de Gaulle, est, which has some 120,000 pine The National Amazigh Film fouche said. world, was known in ancient times Pope Benedict XVI, Ronald Reagan, trees 300-400 years old,” said the Festival in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, Initiatives to capitalise on as the place where Phoenicians hid Mikhail Gorbachev, Nicolas Sarkozy retreat’s operation manager Hus- showcases full-length feature Jezzine’s tourism potential have their treasures. and many others,” said Grace Rizk, sein Mansour. films, documentaries, shorts been coming to fruition in the last “The area has many grottos that manager of Haddad cutlery shop, and animation that celebrate few years. They revolve around re- were carved in the rock and where the oldest in town. Amazigh culture. sponsible tourism that conserves gold statues have been found. The “Mr Gorbachev appreciated the With 2.2 million the environment and improves the Phoenicians from nearby Sidon used cutlery so much that he refused sq. metres of trees, Luxor: welfare of the local population. to bury their dead and their treas- to use it and it is now displayed in Jezzine boasts the March 16-22 Under the development strategy, ures in Jezzine,” Harfouche said. the museum in Russia. It was done largest pine forest in with ivory, which is now a banned the Middle East, the The Luxor African Film Festival material,” Rizk said. is an annual event in Egypt. In The handicraft started with the Bkassine Forest. its seventh year, the festival will Haddad family in the 18th cen- screen films produced in African tury and has since been handed The project includes 25 wood countries in Long Narratives, down over five generations. In the bungalows of different sizes that Long Documentaries and Short beginning, the colourful handles can accommodate 2-8 people and Films categories. were made with buffalo and sheep five rooms, all covered with red- horns, which were replaced by cel- tile roofs. It has spaces for sports Zammour, Tunisia: lulose acetate, a material as sturdy and entertainment, including a March 17-20 as animal horn. There are seven 14-metre-high tower for climbing. cutlery workshops in Jezzine today. The Bkassine Pine Forest includes The second Zammour Fest takes Sets comprising 80 pieces of cut- hiking trails and pathways for pe- place in a Berber village in the lery cost $1,800-$2,000. destrians and bicycles. Tunisian Sahara. Over four days At 74 metres, Jezzine’s waterfalls “It has become an ecotourist at- and three nights, visitors camp are the tallest in Lebanon and have traction and an outlet for families. in Bedouin tents, trek or bike earned the town the title of “City of In summer it will receive many in the village, visit mountains, Falls.” Some 500 metres from the Lebanese expats as well as foreign- attend folklore parties and enjoy falls is a grotto that entered Leba- ers, whereas in winter it is mainly traditional food. nese history when Mount Leba- couples who come here,” Mansour non’s Emir Fakhreddine II hid from said. We welcome submissions of the Ottomans there until he was Prices of bungalows for two start calendar items related to captured and executed in 1635. at $125 in summer weekdays and cultural events of interest to After years of unorganised and $140 on weekends. In the low sea- travellers in the Middle East damaging visits, the Bkassine Pine son, discounts vary between 40- and North Africa. Forest in the southern part of the 50%. Please send tips to: Entrance of La Maison de La Foret in Bkassine Pine Forest in district was transformed from un- http://www.lamaisondelaforet. [email protected] Jezzine. (Samar Kadi) tended woodland to an ecotourism net/en/Home.