Doha: The 10th edition of the Local Date Festival commenced Thursday at Souq Waqif East Square, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Municipality and the Souq Waqif Management. More than 100 local farms are participating, attracting a large official and public presence.
According to Qatar News Agency, the festival will run until August 7, welcoming visitors daily from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays. The event is being held in a traditional setting that highlights the significance of dates in Qatari food culture and local heritage.
The opening ceremony was attended by Eng. Fahad Mohamed Al Qahtani, Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture and Food Security Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality, and Abdulrahman Mohammed Al Nama, a representative of the Private Engineering Office. Also present were officials from the Ministry and the Souq Waqif Management, including Yousef Khalid Al Khulaifi, Director of the Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry, and Mohamed Abdullah Al Salem, Director of Souq Waqif and General Supervisor of the Festival.
In a statement, Yousef Khalid Al Khulaifi emphasized that the festival has experienced significant development since its inception in 2016, starting with only 19 farms. The current edition features 116 participating farms, indicating growing interest in local crops. He highlighted the increasing number of visitors and the successful collaboration with Souq Waqif Management, which has contributed to the event's success in recent years.
Mohammed Abdullah Al Salem stated that Souq Waqif is committed to organizing this festival annually with the Ministry of Municipality to support the local agricultural sector. He noted that the festival's site has been fully equipped by the Ministry to provide a suitable environment for farmers and visitors. The market's central location in Doha is expected to attract large crowds, making it an ideal platform for promoting local dates.
Al Salem also mentioned that the previous edition of the festival recorded sales exceeding 240 tons of dates, with expectations for even better results this year due to the high quality of local production and the wide participation of Qatari farms, which offer a diverse selection of dates and their extracts.
The festival is a prominent agricultural event in the country, supporting national efforts to enhance local production and food security by encouraging farmers to improve production quality and develop date varieties in line with Qatar's National Vision for Sustainable Development.