Liwa Date Festival: Favourite dates Khallas!

Abu Dhabi - Curtain down on Liwa Date Festival.

Curtain came down on the traditional Liwa Date Festival yesterday, that saw thousands of visitors from across the country make their way to Al Gharbia desert to witness Emirati culture and heritage. What saw the number of visitors and participants at the festival swell was not only the endless variety of dates, but also the exciting competitions.
One of UAE's most loved date, Khallas, not only saw the largest number of farmers competing in the festival's five ratab competitions, but it also drew a massive interest from the date palm owners, who came to see the winner of the best Khallas harvest of 2015.
Obaid Al Mazrouei, Director of the festival, believes that Khallas is one of the most demanded and most celebrated dates of all. "We had 180 farmers participating in one of our most popular competitions at the Liwa Dates Festival, the best Khallas ratab."
A common, commercial variety of dates, Khallas is cultivated in various parts of the UAE. The date begins to ripe in mid season, from July and it becomes completely ripe by mid-August. Khallas has a light amber tone when it's not ripe, it becomes yellow when it's half ripe and then turns brown when fully ripe. Unlike other date varieties, which may differ in size and colour from one region to another, Khallas looks and tastes the same everywhere, as long as it is properly cared for.
Nasser Seif Al Mazrouei, supervisor of the ratab competitions at Liwa Date Festival, said: "It is not the sweetest variety of dates, but it is very sweet, so much so that we have a saying: when you reach Khallas (the date), then its khalas (meaning enough in Arabic)."
Contest winners
From the 180 entries, the ratab expert judges selected 20 finalists, based on the look, taste and the health condition of the dates.
The general upkeep of the farm, recycling materials, the minimum or preferably no use of fertilizers was the main concerns of the judges when inspecting the farms. As per the rules of the ratab competitions, 50 per cent of the points were given based on the dates' quality and the other 50 per cent based on the farm's upkeep.
The top 15 finalists were awarded cash prizes starting from Dh120,000 for the first winner, to Dh5,000 for the 15th place. The winner in the main Khallas competition was Mohammed Saeed Al Marar, who received a Dh125,000 cheque, followed by Humaid Jaber Al Marar, who won Dh100,000 and Obaid Saeed Al Mazrouei, who came third and was awarded Dh75,000.
Proud of the achievement, Al Marar said: "Our farm is between Madinat Zayed and Liwa, and it is about 15 years old," he said.
Al Marar also pointed out that it's all about hard work and dedication. "There is no secret or special trick in obtaining quality dates...We work eight months a year on our date palm farm to get a good harvest in the summer," he added.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

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