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The 2011 Emirates International Date Palm Festival concluded with nearly 20,000 visitors, a 56 per cent increase as compared to last year,participating in the excitement and joy of the various cultural activities at the event.
The six-day family festival gathered visitors throughout the day. Teachers’ escorted children from various schools in the morning whilst families from the UAE and abroad visited in the evening to learn about the rich culture and traditions of the Arab people.
Mohamed Jalal Al Reyaysa, Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee for the festival said: “The response to all the features at this year’s date festival had been immense.The Date Tree Planting has been the most attractive, going by the enthusiasm shown by visitors. People wanted to contribute to the beautiful landscape of Abu Dhabi and we are proud to be able to provide them with this remarkable opportunity.”
Nicki Naude, English Teacher, Lycee Francias Theadore Monod, said: “Emirates International Date Palm Festival has been very educational for our children. We are currently doing a project on the five senses: sight; taste; sound; touch; and smell. The children were able to experience all aspects of rich Arabian culture. They were able to smell the incense and perfumes, feel the soft feathers of the falcon, taste the variety of dates, hear the traditional music and plant their very own date palm tree. It certainly was a wonderful experience.”
Over 400 date palm trees were planted in dedication to His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the UAE.
The three winners that showcased outstanding vision and creativity in highlighting the date palm tree in the Date Palm Photography Competition are John Bolus for ‘Passing on the Tradition’, Buddy Gadiano for ‘Legacy of the Good Harvest’ and Balqees Al Khaledi for ‘Shomokh El Lail’.
Exhibitors at the date palm festival were impressed with the platform that was provided to showcase existing and recently launched products, such as Zadina Bisr Juice by Al Foah and the Dates Ice Cream by Nadheed Dates Factory.
Fares Sumairi, Chief Marketing Officer, Al Foah, said: “Emirates International Date Palm Festival provided a great opportunity to showcase our products especially our latest Zadina Bisr Juice. During the festival, this product received great reviews from both the media and Emiratis. It was a pleasure to be a part of the festival this year and we will definitely return to participate in 2012.”
Ahmed Al Nafiri, Owner and General Manager, Nadheed Dates Factory, said: “Emirates International Date Palm Festival is a good place to showcase products, especially our latest dates ice cream. It is a healthy ice cream with a unique blend. 50 per cent of the recipe consists of the date fruit and the remaining 50 per cent is a combination of milk and vanilla. Our product received a good response as people kept coming back for more while also referring our ice cream to friends and family. It was a pleasure participating at the festival this year.”
Emirates International Date Palm Festival provided the appropriate mix of family entertainment and business opportunities to create an exciting event and looks forward to having an even bigger family festival in 2012.
The festival is very committed to building communities through social media. It’s Facebook/datepalmfestival and Twitter/datepalmfest networks engage fans by offering year round news and promotions.
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