Mezmar or mizmar ( ''al-mizmar'') is a traditional group performance and stick song-dance that is performed by in the

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

region in western

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

for festive occasions such as wedding and national events. Almezmar is performed by about 15–100 practitioners in festive occasions such as wedding and national events, they twirl long sticks (

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance * White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...

), beat drums and clap to songs that can pertain to a variety of topics such as heroism, praise, chivalry, love and generosity. In the past, the ritual was associated with battle or competition. It closely resembles the

tahtib Tahtib () is the term for a traditional stick-fighting martial art originally named ''fan a'nazaha wa-tahtib'' ("the art of being straight and honest through the use of stick"). The original martial version of tahtib later evolved into an E ...

dance practiced in Egypt and Sudan."Mizmar" in

Lisa Urkevich Dr. Lisa Urkevich is a global specialist on the music and heritage of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the greater Arabian Peninsula and Gulf States. She has also undertaken significant scholarship on Northern European Renaissance music. She is an executi ...

, ''Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar''. New York: Routledge, 2015. pp 193–196. 'Mizmar' is actually the generic term for almost any wind instrument found in the Hejaz or Asir, from the end-blown flute to the dual-piped boos. But the name of the art mizmar is confusing because the mizmar song-dance does not call for any wind instrument—there is no mizmar in mizmar, just drums." In 2016, Almezmar was inscribed on the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, considered as cultural expression representing the community identity.

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Mizmar performance in Rabigh

Mizmar performance in Jeddah
in 1996
Drums with dance
{{Saudi Arabia topics Arab dance Group dances Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Culture of Saudi Arabia Middle Eastern dances Hejaz

See also

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