SCCI debuts “Pearl of the East Coast” festival in Kalba

This exceptional event is anticipated to attract over 20,000 attendees from across the UAE and beyond, offering an ideal platform for businesses and institutions to strengthen their presence in the local market.

The festival also aims to stimulate local economic activity in the region while highlighting Kalba's major landmarks, tourist attractions, and rich environmental diversity.

Held at Kalba Hanging Gardens, one of the city’s most famous tourist attractions, the festival offers a rich and diverse experience for its visitors through six main tracks. These tracks showcase different aspects of the region's economic and cultural life, with the goal of encouraging economic innovation by developing new ideas and initiatives across various fields that can lead to economic advancements.

The “Pearl of the East Coast” festival seeks to increase local revenues, boost income for local communities and small businesses, promote tourism in Kalba, and enhance social communication by providing a platform for social interaction among community members, while encouraging traditional arts and crafts by allowing local artisans to showcase their work.

Abdallah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of SCCI, said that the festival comes as part of the Chamber's strategy to enhance the economic landscape across all areas of the emirate, with a special focus on the Eastern Region.

This initiative aims to stimulate economic and tourism activity in Kalba, spotlighting it as a unique tourist destination and a distinguished economic hub along the UAE's eastern coast.

It also supports entrepreneurs and local producers, offering them opportunities to develop their projects and increase their chances of success by engaging directly with a wide and diverse audience.

For his part, Mohammed Ahmed Amin Al-Awadi, SCCI's Director-General, noted that the festival provides a significant boost to Kalba's service sectors.

It provides a platform for reviving heritage, traditional crafts, and folk arts, offering a rich experience for visitors and families alike. The festival also places the city in a distinguished position on the festival map, merging both tourism and economic significance.

The first track of the festival’s six tracks features the display of Kalba’s crops such as lemons, berries, nabags, olives, and pomegranates through sales platforms. The second track highlights the marine environment with sea tales and workshops on making fishing tools.

The third track is dedicated to dairy products, displaying different types from Kalba alongside an introductory workshop on the dairy production process. The fourth track focuses on Kalba’s birds of prey, featuring educational lectures on types of raptors and an exhibition of raptor supplies.

The fifth track offers platforms for equestrian supplies sales and various horse-related activities. Finally, the sixth track features video presentation and educational lectures on mangrove trees and their significance in the UAE.

The festival’s diverse tracks take the audience on an exciting journey to explore the marine world and learn about Kalba’s marine life, featuring sea stories and workshops on crafting fishing tools and traditional boats. The Sharjah Fish Resources Authority will be responsible for organising the marine environment workshops.

The festival agenda also encompasses a series of workshops, including an introductory session on the dairy production process, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and Animal Wealth and Maliha Dairy Farm, in addition to educational lectures on different types of birds of prey in cooperation with Kalba Center for Birds of Prey.

There will also be an exhibition dedicated to raptor supplies and methods of caring for them, in addition to interactive equestrian activities in collaboration with Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club.

Additionally, the public will have the opportunity to register for trips to the Mangrove Reserve in Kalba city, in cooperation with Khor Kalba Mangrove Center.

The three-day festival, open to the public from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM, will feature a variety of competitions, including the "Eastern Coast Pearl of Creativity" contest, which will offer valuable prizes to the winners of the best photographic coverage of the festival.

The festival will also host a range of entertainment and cultural activities, such as traditional artistic and musical performances, in addition to workshops for both children and adults.

Aside from cultural activities, the “Pearl of the East Coast” festival supports local producers, as it provides a platform for showcasing and marketing their agricultural, marine, and craft products. Furthermore, it offers an entertainment programme catering to the entire family, ensuring enjoyment for all ages and tastes.

Kalba city is known for its environmental diversity, which combines a variety of landscapes and terrains such as mountains and beaches, along with the Hanging Gardens that host the Eastern Coast Pearl Festival.

These gardens are considered one of Kalba's top tourist landmarks year-round, playing a vital role in enhancing eco-tourism in both the Emirate of Sharjah and the UAE.