Saudi Gazette BURAIDAH — Sales in the world's largest dates festival reached SR230 million in two weeks and more than 15,600 trucks carrying 200 tons of dates come to the market every day, according to organizers. Abdulaziz Al Mahous, executive director of Buraidah Dates Festival 2016, confirmed the numbers and said, "the figures are monitored and analyzed daily by a professional team that works in two shifts to monitor daily sales and track the number of cars entering the yard." He added, "The first two weeks of the festival recorded a financial value exceeding SR230 million pumped by 15,600 trucks loaded with variety of dates, during the 12 days since the start of the festival." The festival site covers an area of 300,000 sq. meters that can accommodate 2,000 trucks and cold-storage vehicles. The festival aims to develop the concept of agricultural marketing, quality production and fruitful communication between the farmer and trader through best mechanisms and methods, he said. Al Mahous said the Buraidah date market, which is considered as the largest in the world, operates round the clock, receiving clients from different parts of the Kingdom as well as from neighboring Gulf and Arab countries. Speaking about one of the main attractions in this year's festival, Al Mahous said that the export yard is the main channel that connects dates product to more than 23 countries worldwide. "The export arena is an important channel for us to export our dates to other parts of the world. It operates more than 35 specialized trading companies in dates. They export more than 4,000 tons of dates a day, through its outlets and methods of marketing to various parts of the Kingdom, GCC States and around the world," he said. He indicated that the festival offers more than 35 varieties of dates, mostly produced in Qassim farms. The prices vary between SR30 and SR500 per kg, depending on the variety and quality. The sukkari (sweet) type attracts the largest number of customers. One of the most important objectives of Buraidah dates festival is to train and educate young Saudis, according Al Mahous. "The festival trains youths on caring for and processing dates during their leisure time," he said. He added, "Women also get trained on being attentive to details of the date farming till the sorting of dates during the event." "Aunt Palm Exhibition" is also one of the main attractions this year, according to Walid Al Jareesh, director of exhibitions of Buraidah Dates Festival 2016. "The so-called ‘Aunt Palm Exhibition' offers visitors a close glimpse to how farmers climb palm trees and important information about palm such as the details of its parts and what type of date it produces." Al Jareesh said Saudi Arabia has the world's highest number of palm trees, which accounts for 20 percent of world production. Al Mahous said the festival aims to reclaim the status of Al Qasim's dates and its historical presence. "This festival is one of the most important events in Saudi Arabia which is organized to depict the farmer's lifestyle, traditional crafts, connection with the palm trees and dates, and also features an exhibition of photos of palm trees and dates, a date carnival, and other varied and interesting events," he added.
