عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Riyadh Season to Kick off on October 20

Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh. (SPA)
Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh. (SPA)
TT
20
TT

Riyadh Season to Kick off on October 20

Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh. (SPA)
Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh. (SPA)

The Saudi capital is gearing up to host its massive recreational festival, Riyadh Season, after a two-year halt caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh announced on Monday that the festival will kick off on October 20.

He said the recreational events will be held in 14 districts in Riyadh and cater to audiences of all ages.

This year’s Riyadh Season will be much bigger than previous editions, boasting 7,500 events, 10 exhibitions, and 350 stage performances and an e-sports competition, he revealed.

Al-Sheikh also addressed the Matloob platform that was launched by the Authority ahead of the Riyadh Season.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Authority is seeking to support aspiring artists and establishing a fanbase for them. He explained that as they gain more fans, the artist will be requested to perform at major events, such as Riyadh Season, in the future.

This year’s edition will also boast 100 interactive events, 24 Arab and international theatrical performances, car exhibitions and auctions, concerts, a wrestling match, and two football matches played by international teams, said Al-Sheikh.

Over 30 tons of fireworks have been dedicated to the event and visitors will have over 200 restaurants and 70 cafes to choose from.

Over 16,000 workers built the venues of the festival, which is expected to generate record revenues and attract a record number of visitors and tourists, added Al-Sheikh.

In 2019, over 10 million visitors and 200,000 tourists attended the festival and the General Entertainment Authority generated over a billion riyals (266 million dollars) in direct revenues.

The Riyadh Festival had helped create over 51,000 direct and indirect jobs in the past and this figure is expected to double for this year’s edition, he predicted.

Most Viewed

 
Varieties

Rare New Zealand Snail Filmed for First Time Laying an Egg from its Neck

In this image made from video, a Powelliphanta augusta snail lays an egg from it's neck at the Hokitika Snail Housing facility, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Hokitika, New Zealand. (Lisa Flanagan/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
In this image made from video, a Powelliphanta augusta snail lays an egg from it's neck at the Hokitika Snail Housing facility, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Hokitika, New Zealand. (Lisa Flanagan/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
TT
20
TT

Rare New Zealand Snail Filmed for First Time Laying an Egg from its Neck

In this image made from video, a Powelliphanta augusta snail lays an egg from it's neck at the Hokitika Snail Housing facility, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Hokitika, New Zealand. (Lisa Flanagan/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)
In this image made from video, a Powelliphanta augusta snail lays an egg from it's neck at the Hokitika Snail Housing facility, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Hokitika, New Zealand. (Lisa Flanagan/New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)

The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country’s conservation agency said Wednesday.
What looks like a tiny hen’s egg is seen emerging from an opening below the head of the Powelliphanta augusta snail, a threatened species endemic to New Zealand.
The video was taken at a facility on the South Island’s West Coast, where conservation rangers attempting to save the species from extinction have cared for a population of the snails in chilled containers for nearly two decades, The Associated Press reported.
The conditions in the containers mimic the alpine weather in their only former habitat — a remote mountain they were named for, on the West Coast of the South Island, that has been engulfed by mining.
Observing their habits Lisa Flanagan from the Department of Conservation, who has worked with the creatures for 12 years, said the species still holds surprises.
“It’s remarkable that in all the time we’ve spent caring for the snails, this is the first time we’ve seen one lay an egg,” she said in a statement.
Like other snails, Powelliphanta augusta are hermaphrodites, which explains how the creatures can reproduce when encased in a hard shell. The invertebrate uses a genital pore on the right side of its body, just below the head, to simultaneously exchange sperm with another snail, which is stored until each creates an egg.
Each snail takes eight years to reach sexual maturity, after which it lays about five eggs a year. The egg can take more than a year to hatch.
“Some of our captive snails are between 25 and 30 years old,” said Flanagan. “They’re polar opposites to the pest garden snail we introduced to New Zealand, which is like a weed, with thousands of offspring each year and a short life.”
The dozens of species and subspecies of Powelliphanta snails are only found in New Zealand, mostly in rugged forest and grassland settings where they are threatened by habitat loss.
They are carnivores that slurp up earthworms like noodles, and are some of the world’s largest snails, with oversized, distinctive shells in a range of rich earth colors and swirling patterns.
The Powelliphanta augusta was the center of public uproar and legal proceedings in the early 2000s, when an energy company’s plans to mine for coal threatened to destroy the snails’ habitat.
Some 4,000 were removed from the site and relocated, while 2,000 more were housed in chilled storage in the West Coast town of Hokitika to ensure the preservation of the species, which is slow to breed and doesn't adapt well to new habitats.
In 2011, some 800 of the snails accidentally died in a Department of Conservation refrigerator with faulty temperature control.
But the species’ slow survival continues: In March this year, there were nearly 1,900 snails and nearly 2,200 eggs in captivity, the conservation agency said.