Government | Thursday 24 September, 2015 3:40 am |

 A National Day is always very important for the people of a country and Saudis also celebrated their National Day with pride, although this year it came in the middle of an important religious duty — the Haj.

“We are very proud to be Saudi and happy that Allah gave us this responsibility of serving the guests of Allah during Haj. However, our National Day is also very important so we are celebrating this day with pride and happiness as it falls on the Day of Arafat. We prayed for the stability, progress and long life for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman,” said Mashour Al-Otabi, a Saudi citizen.
He further said that all Saudis are thankful to the king for extending the Eid holidays by three days, as every year Saudis get one day off on National Day but this year it came with Eid Al-Adha. 
Another Saudi citizen, Aziz Al-Amri, said the National Day is a very important day to celebrate and the Jeddah Municipality made a lot of preparations for citizens so they can celebrate the day with enthusiasm and pride. 
“This year the National Day came during Haj holidays, and while most government bodies are busy serving pilgrims, still Jeddah residents have lots to be delighted with, as roads and parks are decorated with lights and flags, a new marine park near Dahban is opened as a great gift from municipality to enjoy Eid and National Day together,” he said. “I celebrated our National Day with my family and children with pride and joy,” he added.
Markets and restaurants also prepared for National Day celebrations as most of the markets brought clothes, flags and a number of things so the elders and children can enjoy and celebrate the National Day with enthusiasm.
“The National Day is a great chance to tell the children about the unique history of our country, I love to take my children out to the historical places and to a restaurant whenever we have any special occasion. The National Day is one of the occasions to celebrate … we enjoyed it by eating green burgers that represented the green flag of our country,” said Sultan Al-Aquly.