L N Mallick
Doha
Al Hamba Festival, the 10-day Pakistani mangoes festival organised by the Celebrations Committee of the Private Engineering Office in cooperation with the Embassy of Pakistan at Souq Waqif, concluded on Saturday.
The festival, which commenced on June 27, witnessed huge crowds with mango sales touching over 200,000 kilograms. The festival showcased mango varieties like Chaunsa, Anwar Ratool, Duseri, and Sidhri, known for their unique flavour, aroma and richness.
“By the grace of Almighty Allah and due to the hard work and dedication of the participants, the festival was a big success and beyond our expectations. We witnessed a record sale of 225,929 kilograms of mangoes during the 10-day festival,” said General Supervisor of the festival Khalid Saif Al Suwaidi.
He added: “Visitors from diverse nationalities, including citizens, residents, and tourists from the Arab Gulf countries as well as from European countries had the opportunity to taste the finest Pakistani mangoes, which were imported on daily basis from Pakistan by air.”
Strict measures were in place to ensure that mangoes were available to the visitors at affordable prices. Mango consignments were released on priority basis and were subject to strict examinations at Hamad International Airport customs in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Municipality.
Mango samples were also examined daily by the Ministry of Municipality inside the festival tent to ensure that visitors only received fresh and best quality mangoes.
“We had the best experience of organising the first two versions of the Al Hamba Festival for Indian and Pakistani mangoes. We will take all observations and suggestions put forth into consideration and will ensure to offer better versions next time. Now we are organising a date festival at the end of the current month and look forward to receiving same response from the general public,” added Al-Suwaidi.
Around 43 companies put up outlets at the festival, which was open from 4pm to 9pm daily until July 6. Local restaurants and cafés also participated and offered a diverse menu that celebrated the culinary heritage of Pakistan. The event also offered a wide range of mango products, such as mango ice cream, puddings, juices, shakes, pickles, cakes, and various other food items prepared using fresh mangoes. A selection of fresh seasonal fruits like plums, falsa, jamun, and peaches were also available.
