Muscat: 60,000 visitors attended the second edition of Al Jabal Al Akhdar Festival 2023 from 3-19 August.
The festival was organized by the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.
The festival's activities included a variety of programs and family entertainment activities, including a dedicated youth corner, a children's corner in an atmosphere of play and fun, a corner for Omani food, a corner for Al Jabal Al Akhdar farmers, in addition to a young chef's corner that provided the opportunity for children to participate and learn the skill of cooking with a number of Omani chefs and enjoy unique Omani meals.
The festival also featured paragliding shows and international theatrical performances such as Alaa Aldin show, the chemical science show, in addition to a group of races and events for fans of adventure sports, including the Al Jabal Al Akhdar Mountain Bike Race, the activity of tourist walking , and the Himam mountain run race.
Ahmed bin Salem Al Tobi, Director General of Administrative and Financial Affairs in Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate, said: “Al Jabal Al Akhdar Festival, which concluded its activities on August 19, 2023, is an effective window for tourism promotion, through which many services and development projects in the state of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar are revived, and the festival was very popular with visitors from inside and outside the Sultanate of Oman, as this year included various activities commensurate with the interests of the various segments of society, and the active participation of the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority,” explaining that the number of participating institutions reached 34 institutions and the number of participating productive families reached 45 families.
Ahmed Al Toubi stressed that the governorate is keen to monitor the observations and opinions of visitors in order to develop services and events in the coming years, which would contribute to making the festival an important addition to the tourism and economic activity in Wilayat of Jabal Al-Akhdar.
Haitham bin Muhammad Al-Ghassani, Director General of Tourism Promotion at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, indicated that the organization of the second edition of the Green Mountain Festival aims to attract visitors and tourists to the state of Al Jabal Al Akhdar, especially families, to enjoy the recreational activities, events, various competitions and tourism experiences offered by the festival.
Haitham Al-Ghassani stressed that the festival also contributed to providing an opportunity for individuals and local community institutions in the wilayat to present and display their products during the festival period.
Eng. Muhammad bin Ali Al-Wardi, Director of the Municipality Department in the Wilayat of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar in Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate, said: With the start of the activities of the Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar Festival 2023 , the Wilayat of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar witnessed an influx of tourists from inside and outside the Sultanate of Oman, and a great turnout for visitors to the festival and the accompanying events, which contributed to introducing the ingredients that abound.
He added: Through our survey of the visitors of the festival, there is satisfaction with the activities held such as the mountain tourist walk, where the number of participants reached more than 125 participants, the events of Al Jabal Al Akhdar Bicycle Race and the activities of paragliding shows, and the activities of Al Jabal Al Akhdar Race for mountain running, in which more than 230 participants participated.