Dates Festival 2019 from tomorrow

The largest agricultural event in the Sultanate, the Dates Festival, to showcase Oman’s agricultural identity, will be held from October 24 to 28 at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. Organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF), in collaboration with the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada), the five-day festival will have participation from farmers, producers and representatives of various manufacturing units with different varieties of dates. “The Oman Dates Festival, currently in its 7th edition, will showcase a variety of events for the whole family, such as art competitions, photographic exhibition and a children’s theatre that will host performances and cartoon characters and a corner for games and colouring,” an official at the ministry said. Alongside, the various derivatives of dates, several manufacturing techniques and innovative and modern marketing methods will also be on display, he said. The opening of the festival will be held under the auspices of Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry. Various ministerial representatives, heads of Public Authorities along with private and public sector officials will be present. According to a survey carried out by the ministry in 2017, Oman’s dates production is estimated at 361,000 tonnes compared to 355,000 tonnes in 2016 and 344,000 tonnes in 2015. More than 75 tonnes of dates of different varieties from wilayats will be on display.