Tourism & Hospitality | Friday 29 July, 2016 3:49 am |

 Different type of dates including bunches of new harvests are submitted by farmers on the second day of the 3rd Liwa Ajman Date Festival and judges will determine the tastiest, healthiest and best looking fruits to win today’s prize.

On the first day of the festival, Saif Saif Thamer Al Marar was announced first prize winner while Mohammed Ahmed Al Mansouri Dminh received the second prize and third place went to Jaber Ali Al Marar for the Western Region while for the Northern Region, the first prize winner was Ali Abdullah Qayedi, second prize winner was Dr. Ahmed Saif Muhammed Al Falasi and third prize winner was Hamdan Andullah Baharoon. More than 40 participants submitted their entries for the Al Nukhba competition with the first prize winners receiving cash prize of AED 10,000 each, AED 7,500 each for the second prize winners and AED 5,000 each for the third prize winners.

Winners of the Lemon Basket competition were also announced with Rashid Mohammed Tunaiji winning AED 5,000 as first prize, second prize winner of AED 3,000 cash was Ali Abdullah Qayedi and third prize winner of AED 1,500 was Ali Abdullah Ahmed.

More than AED 400,000 in total prizes are to be won by farmers who are vying for the best type of date and citrus fruits during the three-day festival.

Today, judging will focus on the Kunaizi, Al shishi and Al barhi dates and winners will also receive cash prizes of AED 10,000, second prize of AED 7,500 and third prize of AED 5,000. The citrus fruits competition will also be judged today with winners taking home cash prizes of AED 5,000, AED 3,000 and AED 1,500.

HE Faisal Al Nuaimi, General Manager of Ajman Tourism Development Department said: “We are seeing harvests this year that are far better from previous year’s festivals. This shows that our farmers take serious approach in the cultivation of the date palm tree to produce high quality dates. Our dates are known as one of the finest in the region and we take pride in having this recognition.”

On the last day of the festival, the competition will focus on Khallas, Farth and Lulu dates including the best fruit basket competition with the winners receiving cash prizes each.

This year’s festival saw a mix of participants who are here for the first time while others are exhibiting for the second time such as Azza Al Qubaisi, jewellery artist and sculpture who was displaying her art pieces made from palm trees. “It’s been a huge change in the growth of the festival and it’s interesting to be in the middle of the city and be around new people who are not related to art. As an artist, it is important to meet new audience and share my art and give them the opportunity to reconnect with one of the fibers of life in the past.”

Maitha Shamsi of Sahart Bitna is selling home made products at the traditional market and was pleased with the outcome of the festival. Like Hessa Ali of My Hospitality who is also selling perfumes and decorative glasses, this is her first participation and happy with the outcome.

Residents and visitors including children participated in the different activities at the Kids Corner, watched traditional shows and folklore dances including live performance by the band “Dibba AlHrbyah”. Chefs from four and five-star hotels also demonstrated their culinary skills and created delicacies with date flavours.

The 3rd Liwa Date Festival is open until tomorrow, Friday, July 29, from 4pm until midnight.