Al wathba: The Al Wathba Date Festival wrapped up its third edition under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, with a series of celebratory events and the announcement of competition winners.
According to Emirates News Agency, the festival was organized as part of the Sheikh Zayed Festival in the Al Wathba area by the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority. The event saw wide participation from palm farmers, producers, artists, photographers, and chefs from across the UAE. Obaid Khalfan Al Mazrouei, Executive Director of the Festivals and Events Sector at the authority, and Mohammed Saif Al Nuaimi, Director-General of the Sheikh Zayed Festival, were responsible for crowning winners in various competitions. These included date beauty contests, date packaging competitions, live painting, photography, and cooking contests.
In the date beauty contests, categories such as Nokhbat Al Wathba, Dabbas, Khalas, Fardh, Shishi, Boumaan, and Zamli saw a total of 101 participants, who submitted 5,525 kilograms of dates. Prizes amounting to AED280,000 were distributed among ten winners. The date packaging contests, divided into 'without additives' and 'stuffed dates' categories, had 39 contestants submitting 780 kilograms of dates. Each category awarded AED 135,000 in prizes to ten winners.
Additionally, the 'Date Auction' segment of the festival recorded the sale of 3,403 kilograms of dates, totaling AED152,500. This sale underscored the strong participation of farmers and producers and highlighted the festival's role as a specialized marketing platform for Emirati dates.