The Hatta Honey Festival returns for its tenth season to support Emirati beekeepers

Dubai Municipality announced the return of the Hatta Honey Festival, a prominent annual event that brings together beekeepers, local producers and honey lovers, to celebrate the local production of honey and the countryside nature and authentic environmental heritage that characterizes Hatta. The festival was launched today within the framework of the “Shatta Hatta” initiative, and its activities will continue until December 31 in the Hatta Hall, with free entry for all visitors.

The festival comes within the framework of Dubai Municipality’s ongoing efforts to consolidate Hatta’s position as a leading destination for agricultural and environmental tourism, and to create direct economic opportunities for local producers and small business owners. The festival also provides an integrated platform that combines production, education, laboratory testing and sale of honey, thus promoting sustainable development and supporting the tourism system and local economy in the emirate.

This year’s edition includes more than 50 stands for beekeepers and honey producers, in addition to 10 external booths designated for producing families and sales outlets. The festival also includes outdoor spaces for educational workshops, an indoor hall, live performances, allocating spaces for children’s activities and games, and four food and beverage trucks.

The Dubai Central Laboratory is participating in this edition of the festival, with an integrated laboratory platform that includes the latest devices and technologies to examine the quality and safety of honey products. The platform is distinguished in this version in that it includes unique devices that are being used for the first time, operating with infrared technologies, specifically designed to conduct some basic laboratory tests for honey and its products in a period of time not exceeding one minute.

The Dubai Central Laboratory includes an integrated laboratory testing system for honey that includes up to 512 tests, which reflects the breadth of its services and capabilities in supporting the quality and safety of the product, confirming Dubai Municipality’s continued keenness to develop laboratory tests and enhance their efficiency and speed of completion in a way that achieves global leadership and contributes to enhancing consumer confidence in the quality of products.

During the festival, the laboratory will showcase an innovative and advanced model for receiving samples, while employing the latest smart technologies in developing the laboratory work system, ensuring the flow of procedures, raising levels of accuracy and reliability, in addition to maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality. Honey samples are received from beekeepers using a smart robot that operates fully automatically without any human intervention, ensuring streamlined procedures, raising levels of accuracy and reliability, in addition to maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality.

The festival’s activities will be accompanied by the Dubai Municipality’s announcement of a pioneering project that represents a qualitative leap in the system of documenting the quality of Emirati honey. It is a project that aims to develop a laboratory fingerprint and a digital identity for local honey that enables verification of the type, source and quality of honey based on advanced scientific analyses. The festival is scheduled to witness the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Hatta Merchants Council to launch the project, which is the first of its kind in the country.

Acting Executive Director of the Environment, Health and Safety Foundation in Dubai Municipality, Dr. Naseem Mohammed Rafie, explained: “The Hatta Honey Festival reflects Dubai Municipality’s commitment to supporting sustainable agricultural tourism and empowering local producers through organized platforms that combine economic opportunities, quality assurance and community participation. The festival provides visitors with a comprehensive experience that combines learning, heritage and entertainment, which strengthens the local economy and reflects Dubai’s vision for the sustainable development of the tourism and agriculture sector.”

The festival offers an integrated family winter experience that includes interactive workshops, educational activities, and live performances, in indoor and outdoor areas, ensuring an enjoyable and comprehensive experience for all family members, enhancing the quality of life and encouraging community participation.

The organization of the festival comes within the framework of the comprehensive plan to develop the Hatta region, which aims to diversify the local economy, empower Emirati entrepreneurs, and create sustainable investment opportunities in the agricultural sectors and small industries, while ensuring the highest levels of quality and safety of products.