Bahrain national amphitheatre opens on Monday

The Ministry of Culture today announced that the National Amphitheatre would be opened on Monday, under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa (November12). Culture Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa paid tribute to HM the King for supporting the landmark project, being the first of its kind in Bahrain. Leading diplomatic and cultural personalities as well as businessmen and media figures will attend the opening ceremony, which features artistic and theatrical shows. Built on an area covering 11, 869 square metres, the National Amphitheatre has a capacity of 1001 seats, in reference to the One Thousand and One Nights, in addition to a hall accommodating 100 persons for training schemes, workshops and small events. The project also features a parking capable of accommodating 290 cars, north of the Bahrain National Museum lake. The National Museum is already hailed as the third biggest in the Arab World, ranked after the Opera House in Egypt and Al-Sultania Opera in Oman. The inauguration of the Amphitheatre is part of festivities Manama Capital of Arab Culture 2012.