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Festival celebrates history of palm tree

The sixth Emirates International Date Palm Festival was inaugurated by Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), on Monday.

The festival, which will close on December 1, has 165 exhibitors from 18 countries at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The splendours of palm trees including fresh and dry dates, date syrup and handicrafts made out of palm trees’ wood and leaf are being showcased.

“We kept these dates in the freezer since July. They are all ‘ratab’ and taste as good as when we picked them in summer,” said Khalifa Saeed Al Jahoar from Dates Index, the festival’s dates tasting pavilion.

Dates Index is just one of the eight features of the festival this year. Next to the popular palm tree climbing, a small stage was set, where students from 30 schools signed up to perform during the festival.

A talented trio, Kariem, Hamza and Hamuda, will be playing their oud and qanoon instruments during the celebrations, accompanied by American-Iranian spiritual poetess Bahareh Amidi, who will engage the audience with her poetry reading. Artist extraordinaire Saunders Hildreth will be giving a live painting show and Nouf Saeed Al Jahdhami, an Emirati prosthetic artist, will demonstrate how to create visual make-up art — a craft widely used in photography, film and animation.

Professional chefs will also be gathering at the festival, putting their skills to the test in a date cook-off.

“The festival seeks to educate visitors on the UAE’s rich history of palm trees and dates, as well as to provide a platform for businesses to communicate and expand their network,” said Mohammed Jalal Al Reyaysa, chairman of the festival’s Higher Organising Committee and official spokesperson of the ADFCA.

Together with the ADFCA, the festival is being organised by Turret Media and Date Palm Friends Society.

—silvia@khaleejtimes.com