Today's Edition
MUDHI ALOBTHANI (ABU DHABI)
The Al Wathba stop of Abu Dhabi's dates festival season carries forward the mission of passing down the UAE's date farming tradition from one generation to another.
Young Emirati Ali Nasser Al Nuaimi has seen that heritage kept alive firsthand as he grew up watching his father tend palm trees. "We learned how to cultivate date palms and produce dates from our father when we were children," he told Aletihad.
He hopes young people like him can take the time to understand the importance of agriculture, especially as part of the Emirati way of life. "The UAE has a long history connected to nature and trees, and the date palm remains closely linked to our culture and identity."
Al Nuaimi now helps run their family's dates business, Thamarat Al Dhaif, which is among the dozens of farms and enterprises participating in the first Al Wathba Dates Festival.
The event runs from August 3 to 9 as the third stop of the 2026 dates season, following the Liwa Dates Festival and Al Ain Dates Festival.
Organised by the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority (ADHA), the Al Wathba fest brings together farmers, producers and visitors from across the UAE, with 18 competitions offering 240 prizes worth Dh5.68 million, and a dates market featuring 60 stalls selling locally grown dates, fruits and other agricultural products.
For many participants, the festival is as much about preserving knowledge as it is about selling produce. Fakhra Mohair Al Hammiri, owner of Kanaz Dates, said they still follow the traditional methods used by their ancestors in cultivating date palms and producing dates.
"From fertilisation to caring for the trees, we continue the practices passed down through generations," Al Hammiri said.
She described the date palm as a symbol of blessing and sustenance in Emirati culture. "There is a saying we always repeat: a home without dates is a home whose people are hungry. Even three dates with water can satisfy a person, because dates carry blessing."
Al Hammiri praised the UAE leadership for supporting farmers through festivals that showcase local produce to regional markets.
Bakhita Al Mansoori, owner of Bakhita Al Mansoori Dates, agreed that continued government support helps preserve the local date farming tradition. For her, dates festivals are a reminder of the "deep connection between the date palm and Emiratis' national identity".
Behind the Festival Scenes
Rashid Khadem Al Rumaithi, Director of the Al Wathba Dates Festival, said safeguarding the date palm's legacy depends on keeping cultivation active and passing expertise on to the next generation.
"The festival brings together farmers, producers, experts and the public in a programme that celebrates the UAE's agricultural heritage," he said, noting that such events are aimed at safeguarding traditional knowledge while introducing visitors to local date varieties and their place in Emirati society.
Staggering the season across three stops, Al Rumaithi said, allows farmers across Abu Dhabi's different agricultural areas to take part according to their own harvest timing - giving them room to display produce, compare quality and trade expertise with one another. The festival also ties competitions directly to marketing, putting producers in front of consumers.
"The competitions transform quality standards into practical benchmarks that farmers can apply to improve their production," he said.
Judging covers fruit quality, uniformity, ripeness, and the standard of sorting and presentation. Preparing entries for competition pushes farmers to sharpen irrigation, fertilisation, pest management, and harvesting - while helping keep local varieties in circulation, he added.
Beyond the competitions, the festival showcases agricultural technologies aimed at improving resource efficiency and fruit quality without displacing traditional know-how. The dates market, meanwhile, gives farmers and family enterprises a direct sales channel, building consumer trust in locally grown produce.
The festival's Maqeedhna Camp rounds out the programme with Emirati customs, traditional coffee, handicrafts, local cuisine, performing arts, folk games and interactive digital heritage experiences.
For Al Rumaithi, the goal extends beyond the festival's run. Sustaining date farms, he said, strengthens local agricultural production, supports the UAE's food security, and keeps the knowledge behind the country's iconic date palm moving forward to the next generation.
