Organized by the Al-Qassim branch of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, The Buraidah Date Festival, has reportedly registered sales exceeding SR62 million ($16.5 million) in its first week of opening.
The statistics committee of the festival revealed that the event has received over 9,000 vehicles loaded with over 3,000 tons of a variety of types of dates. Date companies and farmers have seen significant activity, as consumers are shopping for fresh dates at the festival and freezing them for consumption later on.
The month long festival has had support from Qassim Gov. Prince Faisal bin Mishaal, and will showcase over 45 kinds of dates. The festival is also set to be hosting a number of activities and marketing schemes to promote Qassim’s date industry.
Aiming to attract consumers, investors and exporters from the Arab and Gulf countries, there are around 4,000 young men, women and families that are selling their dates and handmade date products at the festival. It has also been reported that there has been an increase in the demand for the ajwa dates, especially in Madinah where there has been an influx of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.
Madinah is famous for producing a variety of types of dates, including ajwa, safawi, mejdool, anbara, sagai, barni and mabroom. Locals, pilgrims and visitors often sample and buy the fruit during their visits.
According to Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Radadi, director general of the Cooperative Society for Dates in Madinah, 4 million trees will be harvested to stock date markets in Madinah.
