AlUla date auction opens for 2026-2027 season

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The Royal Commission for AlUla, Saudi Arabia, has launched the seventh AlUla Dates Season as part of the Khayrat AlUla Agricultural Season 2026-2027. The season opened with a commercial date auction at Al-Fursan Village, which will run on weekends through November 15. Consumer activities at Al-Manshiyah Farmers’ Market continue until September 27.

The auction connects AlUla date growers with buyers, traders, and investors, providing marketing and trading channels for the local crop. Regional growers, cottage-industry families, and artisans can also sell crops, traditional foods, and palm-leaf crafts directly to visitors.

AlUla has more than 4.2 million date palms covering nearly 16,484 hectares, with an estimated annual harvest of 130,000 tons. Date palm cultivation in the area dates to the first millennium B.C., with references documented in ancient rock inscriptions at the Jabal Ikmah heritage site.

Date varieties offered through the auction include barni, majdool, halwa hamra, anbara, and sifri. Both bidding and direct sales are available. The season also includes demonstrations of traditional harvesting practices, including climbing palms with braided rope belts, cutting ripe clusters, and sorting dates into handwoven frond baskets.

The 2025 edition generated approximately US$3.5 million in revenue, with more than 2,250 tons of dates traded and over 1,600 growers participating. Sales increased 48.7% compared with the previous edition.

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies