emirates7 - Al Wathba Honey Festival, one of the main events held alongside the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award, concluded its activities with a remarkable public turnout and distinguished local participation.
Hosted within the pavilion of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award at the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, the festival stood out as a prominent event combining specialised competitions, marketing showcases, and awareness programmes.
The festival featured 42 local producers presenting a diverse range of products, including liquid and crystallised honey, beeswax, pollen, and propolis, to visitors of various nationalities.
Eight major competitions were organised, attracting 246 participants, and culminating in 40 winners across different categories. These included 64 entries in the Best Liquid Sidr Honey competition, 53 in Best Liquid Samar Honey, 13 in Best Wild Sidr Honey, 11 in Best Marine Samar Honey, 28 in Best Honeycomb, 31 in Best Crystallised Honey, 21 in Best Pollen Product, and 25 in Best Beeswax Block.
Participants and winners alike affirmed that Al Wathba Honey Festival offered them an ideal marketing platform.
Fadel Nasser Al Saadi emphasised that the award serves as a supportive platform for local producers, enhancing production quality and encouraging adoption of best practices.
Amina Mohammed stressed that the support provided by the award has motivated investment in the sector, reinforcing economic sustainability for beekeepers and opening wider horizons for expansion and increased production to meet growing demand for Emirati honey.
Mohammed Saleh Al Katheeri noted that the festival serves as a major incentive for local producers to continue innovating and raising quality standards, while also offering a valuable opportunity to showcase Emirati honey to a broad audience. He added that the support extended to beekeepers encourages investment in this vital sector and paves the way for a new generation of apiarists capable of achieving self-sufficiency and enhancing the global reputation of Emirati honey.
Engineer Mansour Al Saeedi, Chairman of the Al Wathba Honey Festival, affirmed that the festival is a strategic platform aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of Emirati honey and supporting beekeepers through specialised training and awareness programmes, while highlighting the sector’s crucial role in achieving agricultural sustainability and national food security.
He noted that the festival offered visitors a rich experience combining knowledge and enjoyment, with heritage, cultural, and entertainment activities making it a comprehensive family destination.
Al Saeedi added that the festival’s success consolidates its position as one of the region’s foremost specialised agricultural events, reflecting Abu Dhabi’s and the UAE’s commitment to developing the beekeeping and honey sector and supporting national products to compete strongly in global markets. He explained that the festival, held annually within the award’s pavilion, has established itself as a unifying national platform for beekeepers, contributing to the development of the honey sector by providing an ideal environment for positive competition and knowledge exchange.
He further pointed out that the strong turnout and wide participation of beekeepers and local producers in the festival and its competitions demonstrate growing confidence in the event and its role in fostering innovation and raising product quality, in line with the award’s objectives of empowering producers and ensuring the sustainability of their projects.
The competitions, which ran until 14th December, showcased advanced levels of participation and highlighted successful experiences and outstanding practices in beekeeping. Al Saeedi stressed that the Al Wathba Honey Festival is not merely a seasonal event but part of a comprehensive vision to strengthen sustainable food security and build an integrated community of beekeepers, reinforcing the UAE’s position as a regional leader in high-quality honey production and agricultural innovation.
For the first time, the festival also welcomed participation from the UAE Beekeepers Association, which highlighted the country’s upcoming hosting of the 50th International Apimondia Congress in Dubai in 2027 – the first time the event will be held in the Arab world.
Hosted within the pavilion of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award at the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, the festival stood out as a prominent event combining specialised competitions, marketing showcases, and awareness programmes.
The festival featured 42 local producers presenting a diverse range of products, including liquid and crystallised honey, beeswax, pollen, and propolis, to visitors of various nationalities.
Eight major competitions were organised, attracting 246 participants, and culminating in 40 winners across different categories. These included 64 entries in the Best Liquid Sidr Honey competition, 53 in Best Liquid Samar Honey, 13 in Best Wild Sidr Honey, 11 in Best Marine Samar Honey, 28 in Best Honeycomb, 31 in Best Crystallised Honey, 21 in Best Pollen Product, and 25 in Best Beeswax Block.
Participants and winners alike affirmed that Al Wathba Honey Festival offered them an ideal marketing platform.
Fadel Nasser Al Saadi emphasised that the award serves as a supportive platform for local producers, enhancing production quality and encouraging adoption of best practices.
Amina Mohammed stressed that the support provided by the award has motivated investment in the sector, reinforcing economic sustainability for beekeepers and opening wider horizons for expansion and increased production to meet growing demand for Emirati honey.
Mohammed Saleh Al Katheeri noted that the festival serves as a major incentive for local producers to continue innovating and raising quality standards, while also offering a valuable opportunity to showcase Emirati honey to a broad audience. He added that the support extended to beekeepers encourages investment in this vital sector and paves the way for a new generation of apiarists capable of achieving self-sufficiency and enhancing the global reputation of Emirati honey.
Engineer Mansour Al Saeedi, Chairman of the Al Wathba Honey Festival, affirmed that the festival is a strategic platform aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of Emirati honey and supporting beekeepers through specialised training and awareness programmes, while highlighting the sector’s crucial role in achieving agricultural sustainability and national food security.
He noted that the festival offered visitors a rich experience combining knowledge and enjoyment, with heritage, cultural, and entertainment activities making it a comprehensive family destination.
Al Saeedi added that the festival’s success consolidates its position as one of the region’s foremost specialised agricultural events, reflecting Abu Dhabi’s and the UAE’s commitment to developing the beekeeping and honey sector and supporting national products to compete strongly in global markets. He explained that the festival, held annually within the award’s pavilion, has established itself as a unifying national platform for beekeepers, contributing to the development of the honey sector by providing an ideal environment for positive competition and knowledge exchange.
He further pointed out that the strong turnout and wide participation of beekeepers and local producers in the festival and its competitions demonstrate growing confidence in the event and its role in fostering innovation and raising product quality, in line with the award’s objectives of empowering producers and ensuring the sustainability of their projects.
The competitions, which ran until 14th December, showcased advanced levels of participation and highlighted successful experiences and outstanding practices in beekeeping. Al Saeedi stressed that the Al Wathba Honey Festival is not merely a seasonal event but part of a comprehensive vision to strengthen sustainable food security and build an integrated community of beekeepers, reinforcing the UAE’s position as a regional leader in high-quality honey production and agricultural innovation.
For the first time, the festival also welcomed participation from the UAE Beekeepers Association, which highlighted the country’s upcoming hosting of the 50th International Apimondia Congress in Dubai in 2027 – the first time the event will be held in the Arab world.