|
||||||||||||
Fourth International Date Palm Festival Opens To A Celebration Of Culture And Heritage With A Focus On Sector Growth |
||||||||||||
Over 100 exhibitors, exotic varieties of date fruits, unique fun activities and competitionsThe Fourth International Date Palm Festival got off to an exciting start today with a wide display of exotic variety of dates, unique entertainment activities bringing alive the Arab world’s age old ties with the date palm fruit, national pavilions and workshops on the production and international marketing of the date fruit. With a fantastic line up of entertainment and educational programmes- many of them being staged for the first time ever, the Fourth International Date Palm Festival promises to be six days of fun and edutainment for families, manufacturers and other visitors. Hall No. 11 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre has been transformed into a desert paradise with over 100 exhibitors occupying over 5600 square meters of space and displaying date fruits as varied as Khalas, Khastawi, Khalti, Mejhoul, Dayiri and many more. Oman, Iraq, Jordan and Morocco are hosting national pavilions for the first time at the festival, giving visitors a glimpse of their culture and heritage and an exotic selection of date fruits. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Executive Board of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority; the festival is organised by Turret Media in collaboration with the UAE University, Khalifa International Date Palm Award, Date Palm Friends Society and Date Palm Global Network. It is held in association with key strategic partner Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and is supported by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. “The Fourth International Date Palm Festival presents a remarkable journey into the heritage, tradition and benefits of the date fruit. The festival also highlights the current challenges faced by date farmers, modern farming methods and opportunities for local and international marketing,“ said Qaboos Khalid, director of the festival, Turret Media. “We have received an overwhelming response to the event and we are indebted to the Abu Dhabi Government for their tremendous support for the event.” The festival will announce the winners of its cultural photography competition. A celebrity chef will demonstrate winning recipes submitted online by the public at the live cooking station. Visitors will also get to sample a variety of delicious recipes including entrées, desserts, main dishes and milkshakes made using date fruits. All the photography entries are currently on display at the festival. Al Foah Company, an Emirati company well-known for producing the best quality of dates on both local and international levels, is showcasing its innovative, first of its kind “Zadina” products at the festival. “Zadina” was launched last September, its product range includes in addition to dates a large range of date-based food and beverage products that are being introduced for the first time worldwide, such as fresh date (besr) juice which is made entirely of the pure juice of organic besr-stage dates with absolutely no additives or flavors (besr is the first stage in the dates ripening process which is followed by the famously tender rutab stage). Other Zadina products include date ice cream available in 12 flavors, cakes and cookies, fine jams with dates, other fruits and spices available in 10 flavors, a caramel made of date honey, truffles, chocolate coated dates and chocolate coated date pieces infused with other delicious spices such as cinnamon, ginger and rose, as well as the ingenious date gummis which are made almost entirely of date honey, with only a natural plant based thickening agent added to be able to form the sweet into the gummi shapes which children love, thus enabling parents to smuggle some goodness into their children and teach them the benefits of dates and healthy eating from a young age. Engineer Saeed Salem Mesarri Al Hamli, General Manager of Al Foah Company, said “Al Foah participation comes in line with Abu Dhabi government’s strategy that focuses on enhancing the date palm sector in the country and making Al Foah a global ambassador for Emarati dates and one of the leading government companies that contribute to the development of this sector. We are showcasing some of the best Emarati date products that are produced by local farms which will help open channels of communication between the producers and the manufacturers of dates.” Al Hamli added that Al Foah is also displaying some of the best and most exclusive types of dates from “Date Crown” including dates syrup, dates paste, thermoform packages, dates with almonds, and many other exclusive date deserts. "As a country with such an abundance of date palm trees, it is only fitting that we should hold an event of this nature which will bring manufacturers, processing companies and experts together to share ideas and discuss ways to market our products internationally, " said Dr. Abdelouahhab Zaid, Head of the Organizing Committee, Director and Chief Technical Advisor of Date Palm Research Unit Dept. UAE University, and Secretary General of Khalifa International Date Palm Award. The Community of Nutrition Department at Al Tawaam Hospital has organised a Date Palm Oasis at the event to give visitors a real life feeling of being in a desert oasis surrounded by date palm trees. |
||||||||||||
