The event runs from July 17 to 27 in Liwa in the Al Dhafra region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi was offered a guided tour of the festival by Obaid Khalfan Al Mazrouei, Director of the Liwa Date Festival and Director of the Committee’s Planning and Projects Department, and viewed diverse displays of Emirati cultural and heritage activities.

Speaking on the importance of date palm farming, the Minister said: “Since the launch of a campaign by the founding father of the UAE, late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, that promoted the mass planting of date palms in the 1970s, the country has become a pioneer in date palm cultivation. These efforts have positioned the UAE among the top five date producers and exporters in the world.”

He added: “Over the course of 15 years, the Liwa Date Festival has evolved into a popular and much-anticipated regional platform for date producers. I commend the organizing committee’s commitment to ensuring the festival remains relevant and engaging while actively contributing to enhancing agricultural production. The festival’s agenda includes prestigious competitions for date and fruit cultivators that have established it as an unmissable calendar event in the capital.”

His Excellency Dr Al Zeyoudi visited the pavilion dedicated to the date competition, as well as the pavilion of the Cultural Programs and Heritage Festivals Committee, where he learned about its yearlong schedule of events.