Over 25,000 people visit Al Wathba Dates Festival in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, August 11
The inaugural Al Wathba Dates Festival, part of the Sheikh Zayed Summer Festival in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, concluded on Sunday after several days of competitions and heritage activities celebrating the UAE's date harvest and the country's long connection with the date palm.
Organised by the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority from 3rd to 9th August 2026, the festival featured 18 competitions offering 240 prizes worth a total of AED5.677 million.
Held in Abu Dhabi's Al Wathba area, the festival brought together farmers, date growers, families and visitors, while providing local producers with an opportunity to showcase some of their best dates.
It supports date palm growers, encourages higher-quality local production, promotes best agricultural practices and preserves the heritage associated with the date palm for future generations.
Rashid Al Rumaithi, Director of the Festival, said that the first edition saw the participation of 448 contestants across 18 competitions and the volume of rutab (fresh dates) and fruit entries exceeding 4,385 tonnes.
The festival drew a large crowd, welcoming 25,108 visitors over its seven-day run, an average of more than 3,000 visitors per day, he added.
The final day saw winners across the festival's competitions honoured and presented with prizes in recognition of the quality of their produce.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Visited a date festival in Oman once, but this one seems much larger. 25,000 visitors for a first edition is a strong start. The UAE always knows how to blend tradition with a big event.
This is wonderful! Dates are such a big part of our culture too, especially during Ramadan. It's great that they're preserving the heritage and encouraging local farmers. India could learn a thing or two about organising such structured festivals for our agricultural products. 🙏
4,385 tonnes of dates entered?! That's a massive quantity. It's good that they're promoting quality over quantity with such high prize money. Maybe our Khajur festivals in Kutch could collaborate with them in the future.
The numbers are impressive, but I wish they'd share more about the heritage activities. Dates are so symbolic in the Middle East, and while 25k visitors is great, I wonder how many were local families vs. tourists. Still, a solid first edition overall.
Growing up in Karnataka, we have local date trees but nothing organised like this. The UAE really knows how to make an event out of everything. The average of 3,000 visitors daily is quite good for a niche festival. 👏
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