Al-Jouf Olive Festival Nears To Drive Cultural, Economic And Tourism Activity

The 19th Al-Jouf International Olive Festival will open on Thursday, bringing together producers, experts, and visitors from Saudi Arabia and overseas. Now entering the 2026 edition, the event is viewed as a major platform for the Kingdom’s olive sector and a central feature on the national calendar for agricultural and food-related events.

Al-Jouf is often described as Saudi Arabia’s food basket and is widely known as the land of olives. The region hosts more than 23 million olive trees, which yield over 150,000 tons of olives every year. Around 30 presses operate locally, together producing about 18,000 tons of olive oil on an annual basis.

The region holds two Guinness World Records linked to olives, underlining its production scale. Al-Jouf contains the world’s largest organic olive farm, with more than 5 million trees recorded. Guinness also recognises Al-Jouf for the largest modern olive farm worldwide. These records support the region’s reputation as a central hub for olive cultivation and processing within Saudi Arabia.

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The Al-Jouf International Olive Festival attracts broad local, regional, and international interest each year. Participants include technical experts, sector specialists, business representatives, and olive enthusiasts, as well as companies, producers, and farmers. Over nearly two decades, the festival has developed into a venue for presenting olive products, new cultivation techniques, and research, while also enabling knowledge sharing and commercial partnerships among attendees.

The previous edition of the Al-Jouf International Olive Festival welcomed participants from seven countries: Italy, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Spain, Palestine, and Syria. This international presence reflects the festival’s contribution to cultural and civilisational dialogue. It also links Al-Jouf’s growers and producers with overseas markets and specialist communities, supporting wider regional cooperation in the olive sector.

The Al-Jouf International Olive Festival plays a direct role in supporting the regional olive economy. The event boosts sales and marketing activity, highlights local olive products, and encourages higher quality and competitiveness. Many farmers engage with the forum to access new buyers, showcase their harvests, and explore wider business opportunities, reinforcing Al-Jouf’s position in Saudi Arabia’s agricultural landscape.

With inputs from SPA