Annual olive festival to bring Kingdom’s crops to capital

AMMAN — The 20th National Olive Festival, which will feature olive products alongside traditional rural goods from the Kingdom’s governorates, is set to kick off at King Hussein Park in Amman on November 27 and conclude on November 30.

The festival, which is organised annually by the Ministry of Agriculture, provides an agricultural exhibition that “helps introduce the produce of Jordanian families and market it directly to citizens”, according to a ministry statement.

Considered the ministry's largest marketing, economic and social event, the festival “provides high quality virgin and extra virgin olive oil, which is examined twice to ensure that it is not corrupted”, according to Ministry Spokesperson Lawrence Majali.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times, Majali said that “through sensory and chemical tests carried out in national laboratories and by accredited and specialised cadres, no oil in the festival can possibly be corrupted”.

During the festival, special booths for olive oil-pressing factories, governorates and their most well-known products, agricultural communities and organisations will be set up.

“I think one of the best additions to this year’s festival is that every Jordanian governorate will have a chance to display not only its olive oil produce, but all the other traditional rural products for which it is famous, promoting small economic projects on which rural families depend,” Majali said.

Kitchens that operate traditional Arab ovens will “create a hotspot in the pavilions of the festivals so that attendees can taste traditional food prepared using the olive oil”, he added.

The festival will also include seminars to raise awareness about the methods of proper food processing that allow for the continued care of olive trees after harvest.