The 10th Local Dates Festival was opened at Souq Waqif Thursday with the participation of over 100 farms in Qatar.

The festival displays several types of dates and products along with locally grown fruits. Held under the auspices of the Ministry of Municipality and Souq Waqif Management, the festival is taking place at the Eastern Square of Souq Waqif.

The opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries including Fahad Mohamed al-Qahtani, Assistant Undersecretary, Agriculture and Food Security Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Abdulrahman Mohammed al-Naama, representative of the Private Engineering Office (PEO), Yousef Khalid al-Khulaifi, director of the Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Mohammed Abdullah al-Salem, director of Souq Waqif and general supervisor of the festival.

Al-Khulaifi said the festival is recording increasing participation from the farmers. “When the festival was launched in 2016, only 19 farms participated. The latest edition has 116 farms,” he said. This, according to al-Khulaifi, reflects the growing interest in local dates. “The increasing turnout of visitors has contributed to the success of the festival,” he said.

Al-Salem said the site at Souq Waqif is fully equipped to provide an ideal spot for the festival. “The festival is held to support the local farming sector. The last edition of the festival recorded sales exceeding 240 tonnes of dates,” he said exuding his confidence in securing better turnout this year.

The annual dates festival features all Qatari varieties including Al Khalas, Al Khenaizi, Al Shishi, Al Barhi, Al Saqai, Al Razizi, Nabt Saif and Al Lulu. The festival also sells locally grown fruits including fig and papaya. Also, date products including cakes, shakes and icecreams are on sale.

To run until August 7, the festival is open from 4 pm to 9 pm except on Fridays and Saturdays when it is open from 4 pm to 10pm.