Celebartory decorations have been appearing on buildings in Manama and the red and white national flag flying high across the Kingdom amid four-day celebrations to maark Bahrain's National Day.

The 'Decorate your house or building' competition is being organised by the Capital Governorate and also aims to celebrate His Majesty King Hamad's accession to the throne, the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, reported.

Residents, companies and public sector organisations in Manama are being encouraged to decorate their homes and buildings for a chance to win the grand prize of BD5,000 ($13,187). Organisers said the runner-up and second runner-up will receive BD2,000 and BD1,500 respectively.

The scheme, under the patronage of Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, aims to unite people and celebrate the holidays together.

Entry is free but participants must register to "beautify" their homes before December 31.

Organisers are expecting huge participation from the public sector, but are urging citizens and residents to come forward and decorate their homes under the slogan 'The Kingdom's Heart'.

"This is only the second time the competition is being held and I think it will be as popular as it was last year," said Capital Governorate technical committee head Mohammed Salahuddin.

"Last year the competition was a big success as it was not only for houses but also private and government buildings, but the prize money is only for the decorated house.

"Also this year we have more sponsors which has increased awareness about the campaign."

Judges will be dispatched across the governorate from January 6 until 9 and will choose the top three winners.

"With the festive season people will already be decorating their homes, but now they can do it as part of a competition. But to do well in the competition the decorations will have to be on the National Day theme," added Salahuddin.

The guidelines for the competition include: participants must live in the Capital Governorate, decorations must highlight the civilised and modern architectural aspect of the governorate and Bahrain during the rule of His Majesty King Hamad, decorations must be prominent day or night, decorations must be new and innovative, all decorations must include lighting, colour and creativity.-TradeArabia News Service