Held in Al Samar neighbourhood in Kalba’s Al Ghail Suburb, the festival drew more than 45,000 visitors from across the UAE, significantly surpassing the initial target of around 10,000 visitors, and generated sales totalling AED 1 million. The closing ceremony announced the winners of the festival’s main competitions and honoured the participating government entities, companies, and supporting partners.

Spread across 4,800 square metres, the festival brought together more than 85 productive families specialising in traditional seafood dishes and maritime products, alongside 10 government entities and six national fishing supply companies and fish processing facilities. The strong turnout demonstrated significant community interest in maritime heritage and notable engagement with the offerings of productive families, craftspeople, and fishing supply and processing companies.

The ceremony honoured the winners of the Best Jashe/Sahnah Product competition for adults, the Best Innovative Jashe/Sahnah Dish competition for families, and the Best Quality Jashe/Sahnah for Children competition, for participants aged seven to 15. The competitions aimed to pass the knowledge and skills of coastal communities on to younger generations while preserving and documenting traditional preparation methods.

Mohammad Ahmed Amin Al Awadi, Director-General of SCCI, said the exceptional success of the inaugural Jashe and Sahnah Festival marks a significant strategic milestone in Sharjah Chamber’s efforts to stimulate commercial and tourism activity across the emirate, particularly in the eastern region. 

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Saeed Al Mazrouei, Director of Kalba City Municipality, praised the exemplary partnership and institutional collaboration with the Sharjah Chamber, which contributed to the festival’s notable success and strong turnout from residents and visitors alike, elevating the event to a leading heritage and economic platform.

The festival brought multiple generations together, with older residents, young people, and children gathering around the pavilions of productive families and the live demonstrations by craftspeople. It highlighted the commitment of parents to passing ancestral knowledge and traditional skills on to younger generations, including methods of catching and drying small fish and transforming them into long-established food products.

The event also offered visitors a first-hand introduction to the traditional techniques used to prepare Jashe, traditionally sun-dried fish, and Sahnah, a fermented fish condiment deeply associated with the livelihoods and food traditions of east coast communities.

The Jashe and Sahnah Festival provided a vital platform for knowledge and expertise exchange among entrepreneurs, productive families, fishing businesses, and stakeholders in fish drying and processing.

Fishing supply and processing companies provided local producers with direct exposure to the latest packaging, grading, sorting, and safe fish-drying techniques. This helped them enhance product quality, increase added value, and strengthen their readiness to compete in major distribution channels and access wider consumer markets locally and regionally. 

The craftspeople taking part in the event captivated visitors with their showcases of traditional wooden boatbuilding, featuring handcrafted models of historic vessels including the “Boom”, “Sanbook”, “Shu’i”, and “Jalboot”, in addition to a selection of traditional fishing and pearl-diving tools and equipment.

The festival also featured a vibrant programme of educational and heritage activities, including daily educational workshops and panel discussions on responsible fishing practices, modern fish-drying techniques, and marine environmental protection, held in cooperation with the Sharjah Fish Resources Authority (SFRA), alongside live folkloric performances.