Al Wathba Plant Festival 2026 Highlights Sustainability, Competitions And Local Produce

The Al Wathba Plant Festival will run from 2nd to 13th February 2026 at the Sheikh Zayed Festival site, bringing farmers, producers and families together to focus on local agriculture, sustainable food systems and national food security through competitions, workshops and displays of Emirati plant products and smart farming methods.

Held alongside the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award, the Al Wathba Plant Festival will distribute total prizes of AED315,000 across several plant and product competitions, while also supporting home-based farming projects and highlighting the strength and quality of national agricultural output in local and regional markets.

The Al Wathba Plant Festival programme will include contests such as Best Sidr Basket, Best Fig Basket, the "Fruits of the Nation" Basket Competition and awards for processed fruit and vegetable products, with strict technical rules in place to protect quality, fairness and food safety for all participants across every category.

The Best Sidr Basket Competition at the Al Wathba Plant Festival will take place on 2nd February and will offer cash awards of AED25,000 for first place, AED15,000 for second, AED10,000 for third, AED8,000 for fourth and AED5,000 for fifth, creating direct financial incentives for farmers to present high-quality Emirati sidr harvests.

The Al Wathba Plant Festival organisers require all entries in the Best Sidr Basket Competition to use locally grown Emirati sidr with a minimum basket weight of three kilogrammes, meeting approved technical standards, while every product submitted across festival competitions must pass pesticide residue tests in laboratories accredited by the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority.

To support traceability at the Al Wathba Plant Festival, participants must attach clear identification labels to every entry, showing the variety name, cultivation method and product origin but excluding any brand names or personal details, which helps judges assess products purely on technical merit and safety rather than commercial identity or marketing strength.

Alongside the competitions, the Al Wathba Plant Festival will host training workshops on home gardening and crop management, awareness sessions led by plant production experts, live demonstrations of modern and smart farming technologies, and dedicated activities for children, while platforms for local produce will give home-based farmers space to present and promote their agricultural work.

By promoting efficient irrigation, modern cultivation systems and responsible input use, the Al Wathba Plant Festival will support the UAE’s environmental sustainability goals, underlining the importance of conserving soil, water and other natural resources so that the national agricultural sector can continue to grow in a stable and resilient way over the long term.

Al Wathba Plant Festival role in UAE agricultural sector

The Al Wathba Plant Festival is expected to attract farmers, producers, home-based businesses and visitors to the wider Sheikh Zayed Festival, including citizens, residents and tourists, creating opportunities for producers to showcase crops, share expertise, build networks and explore modern farming practices that can improve productivity and product quality across the UAE.

Ahmed Al Kaabi, Head of the Al Wathba Plant Festival Team, said the festival highlights achievements in the UAE’s agricultural sector and reflects the leadership’s commitment to agricultural sustainability and food security, and added that cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority strengthens credibility by ensuring strict food safety requirements through accredited laboratory testing.

According to Ahmed Al Kaabi, the Al Wathba Plant Festival also serves as an educational platform that raises public awareness of local agriculture, motivates home-growing and sustainable production methods, and supports the wider goals of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award by recognising quality plant production while linking farmers, families and consumers in one integrated event.

With inputs from WAM