Ask in Arabic or English about date varieties, oases, trade routes and heritage cuisine — answers grounded in our encyclopedia
Al-Qassim is Saudi Arabia's date capital and hosts the world's largest date festival.
• The city of Buraidah is the focal point, where hundreds of thousands of tons of dates are sold annually.
• The festival features heritage auctions that celebrate the significance of palm cultivation and premium date varieties .
Sukkari is a golden date from Al-Qassim region, exceptionally sweet as its name suggests (from 'sugar'), crunchy when dry and melt-in-the-mouth when soft. It is considered the finest and most sought-after date of Al-Qassim.
Open pageAl-Qassim is Saudi Arabia's date capital; the city of Buraidah hosts the world's largest date festival, where hundreds of thousands of tons are sold annually in heritage auctions.
Open pageThe Buraidah Date Festival in Al-Qassim is the largest of its kind in the world: bustling daily auctions sell hundreds of thousands of tons each season, and the city becomes a heritage carnival celebrating the palm and premium date varieties.
Open pageDates are graded by size, moisture content, skin integrity, flesh colour and freedom from defects or infestation. Premium grade means whole, uniformly sized fruit with glossy skin; grades fall with cracking or sugar crystallisation. The Saudi Food and Drug Aut…
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