Bidding Jerash good bye

April 28, 2008 at 1:30 pm · Filed under Arab Culture, Art, Music

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1110/1160501648_01b4679788.jpg

Someone decided that the Jerash Festival, held yearly since 1981 in the Greeko-Roman ruins of Jerash, is no more. Instead, we’re having the “Jordan Festival”, which according to an announcement by the (boooooo) Ministry of Culture “a nationwide concept and a theme-oriented carnival to take place at the Kingdom’s various governates.”

Apparently, the Cabinet wants a festival “which not only includes an array of cultural and folklore activities, but helps promote the Kingdom’s archaeological sites”. A film festival will take place in Amman, while folklore and traditional dance and concerts will take place in Jerash. Poetry reciting events and literature debates will take place in the rose-red city of Petra.

I think this is an absolutely horrendous idea. The Jerash Festival has been a landmark of Jordan for the past half-century, and it is a crime to just kill it off. The Jordan Festival in actuality isn’t such a bad idea on its own, but why did they decide for a replacement rather than a complement?

What do you think, was it a good idea to kill off the Jerash Festival or as bad an idea as I think it is?






  • http://nasimjo.blogspot.com nasimjo
  • http://nasimjo.blogspot.com nasimjo

    & by the way, its since 1980 … and it was off for 1 years in the Lebanese war in the 80s, and off in 2006 in the new Lebanese war.

  • http://www.dadan.net/blog dadan

    i think that should have been done long time ago,

    the festival didn’t do any good for jerash people,
    year after year the quality of the events are going down, and no one can afford going to the events no more .. at least from the town it self.
    b3den … the festival is causing lots of problems “traffic jams, power and water shortages ” in jerash.

    as i recall the last 2 years the most successful event was Al Ahli and Jeel club “circassians” around 2000 people came, but most of last year events the theaters doors opened for the public specially the south theater for free, because no one was in the theaters.

    which tells that not a lot of people are interested in coming to jerash no more, i guess its cos of the construction and maintains work on jerash amman road … and creating other new festivals at the same time in the year in different towns ..
    anyway i think its better that they canceled it ..

  • a.b.

    The wear and tear of the Festival on Jerash itself must also be taken into consideration. Rubber-soled shoes, which are very common and popular these days, speed up erosion to the point that it takes only a decade to destroy what centuries have not accomplished (case in point: the Roman theatre in Petra). We want these monumental ruins to be around for our children and grandchildren, right? Historical preservation has to be taken into account along with the money to be made from the tourist industry, fondness for a particular festival or event notwithstanding (and really 25 or so years isn’t *that* long, or perhaps I just say that because I’m an old lady).

  • http://www.karkoor.com karkoor

    Stupid decision, if that true

  • http://myoccupiedterritory.net moi

    I think it’s a good idea, because the quality of the event seems to have deteriorated dramatically in the past few years. The attendance is at an all time low. It seems to only attract bored and obnoxious shabab who crowd the festival and give it a trashy feel when it is supposed to be a respectable cultural event. I do not mean to say that they should not be allowed, but it looks like just any other concert where all the focus is on the big pop star singers instead of the various folkloric presentations.

    I think a lot of people will be against ending Jerash Festival, even though most of them probably never attended it. Preserving Jerash just for traditional and folkloric dance is a much better idea that does justice to the history of the site.

    I hope the Jordan Festival will be authentically “Jordanian” in that every major governate will participate, and that the focus will not just be on Amman as most national events tend to do. There are architectural sites all over the country that should be promoted and explored by all Jordanians. The Culture and Tourism ministries should invest in making these areas visitor friendly for all people. How many times have I been to Jerash or Umm Qais and not find a nice place to sit or in the case of Umm Qais not find anywhere to buy a drink or souvenir or anything like that. What about the Ajloun Castle? All these places are extremely neglected in favor of promoting places such as Aqaba for foreigners. It’s sad to see how rich Jordan is in history, culture, and architecture but so neglected by government officials and disregarded by most of the population.

    a.b.– you bring up a really good point that I had not thought of. The way Jerash has been abused by some visitors is very disheartening, but also the volume of tourists and the impact of the festival should be taken into consideration as you mentioned.

  • Bardees

    yes Roba,I totlally agre with you! what a bad idea, it even makes me sad :(

  • Ahmad Al-Sholi

    Jerash festival failed in its latest years for many reasons such as people interest, art shifts, and economics as well.

    Should it die or restructure depends on the planning and managing the Jordan Festival.

  • http://nemri.co.nr Odai

    I think the government will realize the HUGE mistake after the first failure this summer, this step hasn’t been studied well, Jerash now is an international trademark, it wall take some time (for us and for foreigners) to accept the new brand, they could use the budget to improve or re-brand in a way that keeps the spirit of the festival.
    BTW: I will miss Jesrash Festival music theme, that we used to hear on national TV and local radios, in Junes and Julys of every year.

  • AG

    It’s a life long tradition. I can’t believe them

  • Fencent

    I think it is a shame to kill Jerash festival .It is like killing a part of my life.I’ve got plenty of memories as a child taken by parents on our annual family trip to Jerash to watch our national army musical squad performing there.I mean Jerash is Jordan and it is for all of the Jordanians.They can always arrange for events in the other hestorical places in Jordan but it should still be under the name of Jordan’s festival.