Qatar’s Fresh Local Dates Festival Concludes After Drawing Nearly 110,000 Visitors

Doha: The 11th Fresh Local Dates Festival has concluded in Qatar after attracting nearly 110,000 visitors and recording strong sales of locally produced dates.

Organised by the Ministry of Municipality in cooperation with Souq Waqif, the festival provided Qatari farms with a direct platform to showcase and sell fresh dates while giving residents and visitors access to a wide range of locally grown varieties.

More Than 183,000 Kilograms of Dates Sold

Total sales reached 183,268 kilograms during the festival. Khalas was the top-selling variety at 78,194 kilograms, followed by Shishi at 34,673 kilograms, Khunaizi at 34,336 kilograms and Barhi at 22,404 kilograms. Other varieties accounted for a further 13,661 kilograms.

The strong turnout and sales highlighted growing consumer interest in homegrown agricultural products and helped strengthen the market presence of Qatari dates.

Supporting Qatar’s Local Farms

The Ministry of Municipality said the festival forms part of its continuing efforts to support local farmers by providing marketing outlets that improve the economic viability of agricultural production.

Such initiatives are also intended to encourage farms to increase production and improve product quality, while contributing to Qatar’s broader goals of strengthening food security and sustaining domestic agriculture.

The festival additionally gave consumers an opportunity to learn more about different varieties of fresh local dates and purchase produce directly during the harvest season.

Local Dates Remain Available Until August 15

Although the festival has ended, the Ministry is continuing its cooperation with several shopping centres to make local dates available to consumers until August 15.

The participating retail locations include Villaggio, Doha Festival City and Landmark. The initiative is designed to expand sales channels, make locally grown dates easier for consumers to access and continue supporting Qatari farms during the production season.

Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA), August 11, 2026.