Al Ain, Dec 11th, 2011 (WAM) -- Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, the second International Festival of Falconry took the wings today in the City of Al Ain, UAE.
The Festival is organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) in cooperation with the Emirates Falconers' Club and the Council of British Falconers. Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Advisor for Culture and Heritage in the Court of HH the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Director General of ADACH stressed that this international event seeks to celebrate the registration of Al Ain as part of the international tangible heritage at UNESCO and commemorate the First International Falconry Conference (IFC), which was inaugurated by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless his soul, in December 1976 in order to preserve falconry as an important element of the UAE national heritage and to highlight the country's efforts to preserve the environment and heritage. The Festival also aims to celebrate the registration of Al Ain as part of the international tangible heritage at UNESCO and promote Abu Dhabi as a unique destination for cultural tourism and a platform for dialogue among cultures and peoples. "ADACH is intensifying its organizational, logistical, promotional and media preparations to host this unique event described by international experts as the world's biggest gathering of falconers throughout history," said Abdallah Al Qubaisi, Director of the Festival and Director of the Communication Department at ADACH. "With the multiplicity of its heritage, artistic, cultural and research activities and expectations, the Festival will attract thousands of visitors and tourists, as well as the attention of hundreds of local, Arab and international media," added Qubaisi. Dr. Nick Fox, Technical Supervisor of the Festival and a member of the Board of Directors of the Falconry Heritage Trust in the United Kingdom, said that falconry "has not seen such a grand international event - and probably will never see anything like it!""We thought that falconry was practiced in 65 countries only. However, we received responses from about 80 countries when we announced the organising of this Festival. 75 of them will take part in this session," said Fox. Jevgeni Shergalin, the Secretary General of the Falconry Heritage Trust (FHT) will speak at the Conference about FHT's efforts in providing all the important artifacts on the history of falconry on the Internet to the world (called the "Virtual Falconry Museum"). ADACH has, for the first time in history, decided to create an archive of documents - falconry archive in the Middle East - where original copies of all manuscripts written in Arabic about falconry will be collected. Thus, not only will the original copies be saved, but they will also become scientific references available to all those interested in falconry.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.
