ALULA: The end of the AlUla Dates Festival this weekend saw an array of cultural activities, a record-breaking auction and a showcase of the special Al-Shannah date preservation method unique to AlUla. At 7 a.m. sharp, the final morning auction of the festival involved farmers and attendees bartering over date prices. As the sun started to rise in the sky, the prized dates, stored in cartons, proved to be the most valuable commodity of the show. Organized by the Royal Commission for AlUla, the event returned with a record-breaking auction on the final weekend of the festival, with dates selling for SR51 ($13.50) per kilo. Farmers and attendees clapped enthusiastically at the end of the bidding. In its first week this year, the event sold 96 tons of dates, in the second, 142, and in the third, 149, for a total price of more than SR3 million — without factoring in the final day’s sale. In comparison, 2021’s event saw date sales of about SR1 million. On four weekends between Sept. 30 and Oct. 22, the auction is one of the main attractions in the area. In a strategically located open space near the intersection of the main travel routes to nearby Tabuk and conveniently situated near stretches of local farms, the local auctioneer rapidly shouts out prices to start the bidding. He continues the auction based on the head gestures of interested buyers. The event’s auctioneer is originally from Madinah, but arrives to inspect the date collection each night before an auction in order to decide starting bid prices. Farmer Turki Al-Uneizi told Arab News that the gift of witnessing the date auction is a “treat for all.” He added: “The difference between AlUla dates and other areas is, first, the water. It is good water — there is no salt. And the soil and the climate and things like that. It has low humidity.” The bestselling dates are the mabroom, sagai, medjool and ambar varieties. In the evening, local vendors offer handicrafts, products and entertainment with live music and snacks. The Saudi Post offered a station that allows attendees to conveniently ship date purchases to friends or family in other cities, or to their own homes elsewhere in the Kingdom. The Al-Shannah special event is unique to AlUla. It showcases a date preservation process inherited from generations of locals in the region. The harvested dates are wrapped in a hardened and cleaned shell made from dried goat or sheep skin. The technique is used to preserve the flavor and color of the dates for up to one year. Vendors such as Abeer Soap, which is headed by women entrepreneurs from a local group of artists, sold natural and organic soaps derived from local dates at the festival. Lamia Hamdan, owner of Be Alive brand, sold kombucha produced from dates. Her love of combining local ingredients makes for a unique blend of flavors and benefits. “What makes my product unique is it’s a mix between Japanese culture and Saudi Arabian culture. It is all Saudi handmade,” Hamdan told Arab News. Her fermented date vinegar aids in gut health while maintaining the integrity of traditional methods and local ingredients. Hamdan uses dried rose petals to add a pop of color and adds sesame seeds and zataar to another mix — which is her bestseller — to add a little pizazz to a yogurt breakfast or sprinkled atop a salad.