Comic-Con lets Saudis to be free

Jeddah - The line to enter stretched for more than 100 metres when the event opened in mid-afternoon

Nobody gave Ahmed Al Dainiy a second glance on Thursday as he walked among the youthful crowd on the opening day of Saudi Arabia's first Comic-Con event, wearing a horse head mask.
Dainiy, 18, was among thousands of people who filled a recreation centre in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for the international pop culture event which is helping to break stereotypes about the kingdom.
The three-day festival of anime, pop art, video gaming and film-related events is part of a government initiative to bring more entertainment to Saudi Arabia.
The line to enter stretched for more than 100 metres when the event opened in mid-afternoon.
Some young men were dressed in the costumes of their favourite Japanese anime characters.
"You're free here," said Dainiy. "You are yourself." He said he wore the horse head because it is a character on the channel he operates on YouTube.
Reyad Ateyah, 22, arrived with the orange hair of anime character Ichigo Kurosaki and said he welcomed the recognition of this sub-culture. "It's given us a chance, people like us who like cosplays and anime and comics, and movies," he said through a white mask with oversized teeth and red stripes.
Mwadah Abdul Aziz, 23, and her colleagues manning a booth, added something new: a cute woollen cap in the shape of a bear. The team were selling Japanese-style drawings on notebooks and other items that also incorporate Arabic writing.
"Many people in Saudi Arabia like Japanese culture so much, and Korean culture," Abdul Aziz said, calling it "amazing" that Comic-Con is taking place in her country.
"Saudi Arabia now is opening," the smiling young woman said.Comic-Con began in 1970 as a convention of a few dozen geeks who swapped superhero magazines in the United States.
The event has grown in size and spread around the world.
Iron Man, Captain America and other members of the Avengers, from Hollywood's Marvel studio, took to the Comic-Con stage in Jeddah.
"Raise your hand if you are bad," one of the Avengers asked the audience, provoking enthusiastic hoots.
The government's General Entertainment Authority has said it supports the event, organised by Saudi firm Time Entertainment, because of Comic-Con's "strong family appeal".
Providing more entertainment is one of the goals of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 economic diversification plan being pushed by the kingdom's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 31.

• Saudi Arabia