One of the two main entrances of the fair
An interior corner of the Syrian pavilion at the fair
"In the loveliest spot in Damascus, along the course of the Barada river, in the month of September — the loveliest and most splendid of Damascus's months — the Damascus International Fair is held every year; civilizations meet there, peoples clasp hands, and Syria looks out upon the whole world..."
This is the third International Fair, and the Syrian government, having felt the abundant benefits Syria reaped from its first and second fairs, has gone to great lengths in strengthening this year's fair and organizing it on the most modern lines and those most agreeable to taste.
The tall, matching trees surround the fair city and lend it an air of enchantment, its splendor heightened by the light of the moon and the swaying, dancing shadows on the face of the river...
You are with me before the great entrance; you feel the grandeur and awe of the moment... The flags of the thirty-two states taking part in the fair flutter in the breeze, now embracing, now pulling apart. The pavilions of the foreign states spread through the city, the management of each pavilion having striven to present it artistically, in harmony with the kind of exhibits, forming with the neighboring pavilions a well-ordered whole... Throughout the fair city the gardens appeared in the fullness of their bloom, with flowers glittering in the lap of the greenery, all freshness and color. And fountains of colored water rose into the air, kneading the waters into butterflies of light... scattering a fine spray over the carpet of grass...
And the fair city by night is other than by day. Visit it in the morning... then visit it in the evening, and you will see what a vast difference there is in the flood of people and their jostling at the two main entrances. You move
with the caravan, passing from