The cultural activities of the Al Jabal Al Akhdhar Tourism Festival concluded on Saturday.
The weekend activities saw displays of folklore, folk music, parade of horses and traditional equestrian skills, and a SMEs exhibition of agricultural produce, aromatic herbal oils and extracts as well as handicrafts.
In addition, there was a full-fledged stage, circus entertainment, musical shows and a fully equipped playground.
The seasonal fruit pomegranate was in abundance and as it is the fruit of the season, but also available were the rose water, distilled mint water, garlic and walnuts amongst other products. Something unique, the walking sticks made of wood of olive trees were also largely seen.
The Under-Secretary for Heritage, Eng Ibrahim bin Said al Kharousi, at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, took a tour of the exhibits and activities lined up at The Sama Jabal Al Akhdhar Hotel. He said the festival will continue next year with more events and activities.
Al Muhannad al Nabhani, Operations Manager, Sama Hotel, said, “We tried to attract local entrepreneurs and encouraged them to exhibit what they can because we had people from all over Oman visiting us. We have also had the participation of restaurants and cafes from Muscat as well.”
He explained that many SMEs have come up over the years, expanding the businesses from rose water and rose extracts to handmade soaps and healthcare products from the sourced plants and flowers.
“During the summer, most visitors are domestic tourists, mostly Omanis because it is hot in Muscat so they come to Al Jabal Al Akhdhar to cool off. We also have other nationalities like British, Indians and French who come to the hotel and during winter the visitors are Europeans,” he added.
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