Dates Festival gets a spiritual flavour

Dates Festival gets a spiritual flavour (Wam) / 6 June 2013 This year’s Liwa Dates Festival will be held in 
the Western Region city from July 18 to 25. The ninth edition of the festival, being held under the patronage of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs with total prizes of Dh5 million, coincides for the first time with the Holy Month of Ramadan, which is expected to add a spiritual atmosphere to this cultural event, said the Committee for Festivals, and Cultural and Heritage Programmes in Abu Dhabi.  It is anticipated to attract a large number of people, especially since the visiting hours at the venue will be from 9pm to 2am daily. Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Advisor for Culture and Heritage in the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman for the Committee for Festivals and Cultural and Heritage Programmes, expressed 
his pride in the position the Liwa Dates Festival occupies on 
the cultural and heritage level in the UAE. He highlighted the festival’s importance of the tradition that has celebrated the date season for generations. The committee manages many festivals as well as cultural and heritage programmes, notably ‘Million’s Poet’, ‘Prince of Poets’, the cultural programme ‘Al Shara’, Liwa Dates Festival, Al Dhafra Festival, Abu Dhabi Poetry 
Academy and New York Film Academy. The committee also aims to include further activities that add to the cultural inventory, and those that greatly boost promotions for Abu Dhabi and its cultural humanitarian message to the world. Taylor Scott International