The ‘6th Fresh Local Dates Festival 2021’ will start on Thursday (July 15) at Souq Waqif and will continue for two weeks, a senior official at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) has said.
“The participating farms were chosen based on the quality they have to showcase in the exhibition. There will be diversity in the quality of the offered dates, especially considering the competition between the exhibitors.
The farms have benefited from the previous editions to improve the quality,” said Ahmed A Yafei, Head of The Department of Agricultural Guidance and Services, Department of Agricultural Affairs of the MME.
Over 80 farms are lined up to participate in the festival, compared to the previous edition (2019) in which 65 farms participated.
Last year, the MME held the festival in cooperation with Al Meera Consumer Goods Company at Al Meera’s Hayat Plaza branch.
The festival aims to develop the agricultural sector through palm tree farms and supporting local farmers to produce varieties of quality dates.
Yafei said that this year the organisers expect more demand from visitors as there was no dates festival last year at Souq Waqif, and also because it will also be held before Eid Al Adha, making the demand increase.
He also said that all the precautionary measures against coronavirus would be applied in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health.
The Organizing Committee of the festival has set requirements for the dates offered for sale, including that the fresh dates showcased in the festival should be in the ripening stage and free from any odour. In addition, the dates should have a natural taste and smell.
The festival is part of a major programme of the MME to provide platforms to market local produce during their harvesting season.
The local Rutab (fresh local dates) is characterised by distinct production and marketing capabilities that contribute to its freshness and high quality, making it preferable to consumers compared to other varieties. Different types of fresh local dates will be offered during the festival at very attractive prices, including Khalas, Al Shishi, Al Khanizi, Barhi, Iraqi, Silji, Sufri, Nabt Saif, Al Sawafi, and Khurdi.
