More than 80,000 people, including tourists and heritage lovers, visited the 14th Liwa Date Festival, which concluded on July 28, in Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi's Western Region, said a report.

The 11 day-event offered heritage lovers colourful activities, cultural celebrations, traditional performance and competitions, where a number farmers were rewarded for producing the best types of date through the season, reported state news agency Wam.

A delegation comprising a number of sheikhs and dignitaries from Socotra, Yemen, visited the festival and got first-hand experience on the latest techniques followed in producing different types of date in the UAE, it said.

The festival, held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and organised by the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi, is aimed to preserve the heritage related to palm trees and to celebrate the season of Rotab (dates) when the fruit starts to mature.

Obaid Khalfan Al Mazroui, director of the festival, attributed the success achieved by the event to the large number of visitors who attended its different activities.

He added that the festival has become a source of attraction for farmers and heritage lovers and proved to be a significant platform to revive the country's deeply-rooted cultural legacy and accelerate the economy.