Sale of 10.7 tonnes recorded on first day at Dates Festival

The on-going fourth Local Dates Festival at Souq Waqif, which opened on Tuesday, is evoking a good response. As per figures, released by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) on Wednesday, the festival marked the sale of 10,752kg dates on the opening day.

A total of 11,210kg dates were made available for the sale on the first day. A total of 2,500 visitors visited the festival on the first day.

The organisers this year expect a sale of more than 250 tonnes of dates at the festival which runs until August 3. Last year, the festival attracted about 54,000 visitors and sold 205 tonnes of fresh dates worth QR1.7mn.

The fourth edition of the festival is organised by the MME and Souq Waqif management as part of Qatar’s efforts to promote locally grown products and help local farmers get market for dates. More than a dozen local varieties are on sale at the event participated by 85 farms across Qatar in addition to Hassad food company. The festival was attended by 73 farmers in 2018.

The date varieties on sale at the festival include Al- Khalas, Al-Shishi, Al-Khenaizi, Al-Barhi, Al-Iraqi and Al-Silji, Al-Saqai, Nabt Saif, Al-Lulu and Al-Razizi.