Annual Dates Festival to begin on October 23

To debut the festival, a photography exhibition will be held in the Muscat Grand Mall from October 23 to 24, to demonstrate the importance of dates in the life of Omanis

MUSCAT: Oman’s 5th annual Dates Festival will begin on October 23, and will include a date souq and a number of workshops on enhancing the quality of dates, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishers, announced.

“The dates souq will start on the on October 25 in Nizwa,” said Dr. Ahmed bin Nasser Al Bakri, undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The event, which is considered one of the most important festivals in the Sultanate, is organised annually by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in cooperation with the General Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises—Riyada.

To debut the festival, a photog- raphy exhibition will be held in the Muscat Grand Mall from October 23 to 24, to demonstrate the importance of dates in the life of Omanis.

Apart from the date souq, the ministry has organised an exhibition in Nizwa for companies working in the field of supplying, packaging, and steaming dates from October 27 to 31.

Additionally, the ministry has also planned a number of work- shops targeting participating businesses and attendees from October 29 to 30.

One workshop will focus on enhancing the quality of date production, such as pest management and storage for dates. Another will be on the prospects for manufacturing and marketing Omani dates.

‘Nakhlati’ contest

On the last day of the festival, participants will be honoured and the winner of the ‘Nakhlati’ contest will be awarded.

The market will include: 20 outlasts decided for small and medium enterprises and farmers. A government agency corner. A children’s corner, which includes games, and competition. Sponsors of the festival corner. A display of five graduate projects for students from the Al Zharaa College, who designed brand identities for five date marketing enterprises.

13 winning pieces of art submitted for the Al Nakhlati competition for school students will also be displayed.