The Dhafra Festival is in its new session, witnessed several new competitions and events held for the first time, in addition to the camel beauty contest and auction, Nabati poetry competition on camels, photography contest, and popular market for handicraft. The festival is organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) from December 23, 2008 until January 1, 2009.
The new session of the Festival, which began Tuesday, is unique with a dates contest and its completion for best methods of packaging, as part of the strategy of ADACH to maintain this important product, which is one of the most important symbols of local heritage, and to promote its packaging and marketing through an innovative, modern and easy to transport manner.
Mubarak Al Kusaili, director of the dates competition, said that the purpose of organizing this new event is to spread awareness of the importance of quality packaging in the marketing of dates, lift the standards of marketing local products by farmers, create a spirit of competition among farmers to produce the best products, and improve the standards of local produce.
He added that the dates contest is one of the new additions to the Dhafra Festival in the second session, pointing out that a number of specific criteria are required to participate in the competition. This year the contest is confined to UAE farmers only. The contest organisers had received offers of participation from other Gulf States, but it was decided that only UAE dates would be accepted, in order to be able to fully assess and judge the experience.
Kusaili said that the registration period was extended for one week to allow for the widest possible participation from different emirates and cities, adding that he expected broad participation in the competition, which has a very experienced jury of the highest level, and includes several prominent local competitors, such as College of Agriculture and Food in the UAE University, and Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and Fawaa Company for packaging dates.
Saeed Hamad Al Kaabi, director of the committee of the popular market, said that the current session of the Festival witnessed a remarkable demand for access to the popular market, noting that the committee had received, until the first day of the Festival, 1150 applications, noting that they could not all be met, as they exceeded the number of available places.
The number of stores used in this session reached 157, a significant increase from the 80 stores of the previous session, where 130 stores have been distributed to the participating families in the Western Region, where there is great variety in exhibits that include the addition of a popular cafe, traditional dishes, heritage goods dealing with camels, as well as other products, aimed to promote the handicrafts industry, trade and economy in the Western Region, and the promotion and marketing of these skills locally and globally, as well as giving traditional crafts a modern character, and the transfer of ancestral heritage to future generations.
Kaabi said that the groups targeted by the competition are mothers and fathers skilled in handicrafts, school and university students, and Family Development students, noting that the competition includes three categories of handicrafts: Jafeer, Sadou, and Battan. Also sought is the best modern design for traditional handicrafts.
Obeid Al Mazrouei, of the Western Region Development Council, said the Council supports all the festivals that are organized in the Western Region, within the framework of the strategic plan for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, to stimulate tourism and to highlight the Western Region as a preferred destination for such performances and cultural festivals at the local, regional and international levels. That, in addition to introducing Bedouin culture and reviving heritage tourism, and putting the name of Dhafra in the Western Region on the international tourism map, as well as activating the economic movement in the Western Region and creating a commercial market for buying and selling camels. Also among the aims, is to highlight the inherent UAE industries, encourage the development of methods of packaging dates, and stimulate creativity in poetry and photography depicting camels and the Festival - all in cooperation with ADACH.
Dhafra Festival in 2009 involved the participation of many families and authorities, some for the first time, with a view to introducing the ancient cultural heritage of Abu Dhabi and the region, and maintaining the UAE’s traditional crafts and promoting it to ensure its survival and sustainability in the long run.
Naema Al Mansouri, administrative director of the Ghadeer Project (supervised by the Red Crescent), said that this is the first participation of of the Project, and there is an increase in the numbers of families taking part, so far there are about 25 families offering heritage products with a modern spirit, noting that the Project is selling large amounts to companies and institutions, and the proceeds of the sale will go back to the producing families.
Fawzia Nasser Al Marri, who has participated for the second time in a shop that offers handicrafts, said that she is doing a number of things, including "Saha, Kharja, Hibal, Qalaya, Shamla, Ibtan, and Khattam’, adding that the Shamla, Saha, and Hibal have received the biggest attention.
First Lieutenant Hamad Asheer, Director of Community Policing Branch in the Western Region, said that their participation in the current session is a continuation of the successful participation at the previous session, as part of the role of the community police of Abu Dhabi, noting that the role of community policing is based on: patrols in the polar market, the hospitality tent to communicate with visitors, and foot patrols in Al Azb.
