Harir's First Agricultural Festival Draws Thousands, Celebrates Local Bounty and Economic Revival

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a vibrant and resounding celebration of its rich agricultural identity, the town of Harir hosted its first-ever festival of rice and local products, an event that, over the course of three days, drew an astonishing crowd of over 20,000 visitors and tourists, creating a wave of economic vibrancy and community pride that organizers say was "unprecedented in the history of the town."

The festival, a bustling marketplace showcasing the fruits of the land and the skill of local artisans, not only provided a crucial platform for 100 farmers and business owners to sell their produce directly to an eager public but also served as a powerful testament to the growing success of a region-wide movement to champion local agriculture and foster sustainable rural economies.

This landmark event in Harir is the latest in a flourishing series of local product festivals that have sprung up across the Kurdistan Region, from the famed apple orchards of Barwari to the fig groves of Taq Taq and the pomegranate heartland of Halabja.

These gatherings, actively supported by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), are transforming the agricultural landscape, empowering farmers, boosting tourism, and collectively forging a new narrative of economic diversification and self-reliance for the nation.

A Hot Market for Harir's Heritage

The inaugural Harir festival was marked by an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm from both participants and visitors. Farmers, who formed the core of the event, eagerly showcased their year's harvest, with a special focus on the renowned local rice that is a hallmark of the area's agricultural heritage.

Salar Mohammed, a participating farmer, succinctly captured the primary goal of the gathering, telling Kurdistan24 that it was for "introducing local products, especially the Harir rice product." The festival created a direct and lucrative "hot market," allowing growers to connect with consumers and receive immediate and tangible rewards for their year-long labor.

The event was also a powerful showcase of the region's social fabric and the prominent role of women in its economic and cultural life. The wide participation of women, both as vendors selling their goods and as active buyers in the bustling marketplace, was a notable feature.

Organizers and attendees alike saw this as a continuation of the legacy of Mir Xanzad, the historic military commander and ruler of the Soran Emirate,  whose influence is still felt in the region.

Nawroz Ismail, a seller who participated with her husband and daughters, highlighted this family-oriented, collaborative spirit, explaining that they had come together to offer a variety of local food products.

This vibrant female presence, organizers noted, reflects the "open-mindedness and skill of the women here in the past and present."

The sheer volume of visitors surpassed all expectations, leaving the festival's organizers overjoyed. "We can say we achieved the goal of our festival, because this is the third day and people are still visiting the festival in droves," said Layla Dilshad, one of the organizers. "Our goal in this festival was to introduce the local products of the town of Harir."

The final tally of over 20,000 attendees confirmed that this goal was not just met but dramatically exceeded, creating a warmth and vibrancy between sellers and buyers that infused the entire town with an "enjoyable atmosphere for people of different ages."

A Region-Wide Renaissance of Local Festivals

The remarkable success of Harir's first festival is part of a much broader and strategically significant trend across the Kurdistan Region. These events are becoming a cornerstone of the KRG's Ninth Cabinet's vision, led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, to diversify the economy, reduce reliance on oil revenues, and unlock the immense potential of the agricultural sector.

In Duhok's Amedi district, the third Barwari Local Products Festival, which opened just last week, has seen exponential growth.

Reving Hururi, a member of the festival's supervisory board, noted that the event has expanded from just 45 tents and 3,000 visitors in its first year to 200 tents and an anticipated 80,000 visitors this year. 

The festival, famous for the region's apples, honey, and nuts, has become a major draw for participants from all four parts of Kurdistan, highlighting its role in fostering inter-regional cultural and economic cooperation. This festival directly supports the KRG's initiative to promote homegrown products abroad, which saw the first-ever shipment of Barwari apples exported to Qatar in December 2023.

Similarly, the historic town of Akre hosted its second local produce festival in September, with more than 70 farmers and traders showcasing the region's agricultural wealth, including diverse rice varieties, figs, and the highly sought-after sumac.

Haji Hikmet, a local beekeeper, described the festival as "a vital opportunity for us to market our honey and other produce," likening it to a store where farmers can sell a year's worth of labor in a short period.

The festival has been instrumental in boosting the international profile of Akre's products, with local sumac now being exported to Türkiye, China, and several European countries, facilitated by the KRG as part of its broader export strategy.

This model of empowering local producers is being replicated across the region.

In August, Halabja province, famous for its iconic pomegranates, launched a pilot initiative for a weekly agricultural products market, providing a regular and reliable platform for over 100 local farmers to sell their goods.

This builds on the success of the massive annual Halabja Pomegranate Festival, which has grown into one of the Kurdistan Region's signature cultural showcases, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors and cementing the province's reputation as a center of agricultural excellence.

The high-level support for this movement was clearly demonstrated last week when Prime Minister Masrour Barzani personally attended the Pirmam autumn festival.

His visit was a powerful signal of his administration's commitment to transforming the Kurdistan Region into a "food basket" capable of not only achieving food security but also becoming a major exporter. 

These festivals, from Pirmam to Derbendikhan and Taq Taq—where the fourth annual Fig Festival recently drew over 20,000 tourists and saw 15 tons of figs sell out in hours—are vital components of this strategy. They provide a direct marketing link for farmers, boost local tourism, and serve as tangible evidence of the success of the government's agricultural policies.

The KRG's approach is comprehensive, addressing the entire agricultural value chain.

It includes banning or tariffing imports during local harvest seasons to protect domestic producers, investing in modern infrastructure like wholesale markets and grain silos, and fostering international partnerships, such as with the Netherlands, to bring in advanced agricultural technology. 

The result has been a dramatic increase in production and a burgeoning export market, with more than 3,000 tons of fresh produce now being exported daily from Kurdistan to federal Iraq and beyond.

The inaugural festival in Harir, therefore, is more than just a successful local event. It is a vibrant new thread in a rich and expanding tapestry of agricultural revival. It demonstrates that with targeted government support and the resilient spirit of its farmers, even smaller towns can create powerful platforms for economic growth and cultural celebration.

As the happy crowds departed Harir, laden with local rice and other products, they left behind a town energized by an unprecedented level of activity and a community newly confident in its agricultural identity and its bright economic future.