At a Glance

• The Pomegranate Festival begins tomorrow at the Halabja Amusement Park.

• An estimated 552 farmers, entrepreneurs, and craftswomen will showcase agricultural products and local handicrafts.

• Organizers expect a record-breaking turnout exceeding 300,000 visitors from across the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and abroad.

The Halabja Pomegranate Festival will commence tomorrow for a four-day run, with local merchants and craftswomen already setting up and decorating their booths in accordance with guidelines issued by the festival administration. 

Key Statements and Focus Area

• According to festival organizers, participants are permitted to bring their products, goods, and materials into Halabja Park starting today to begin decorating their booths. 

• The 12th Pomegranate Festival will take place at the Halabja Amusement Park.

Festival organizers have advised participating business owners requiring electricity to bring their own cables and circuit breakers to secure power access. 

This year’s event will place a distinctive emphasis on environmental sustainability, highlighted by a campaign to plant 5,000 pomegranate saplings. Approximately 552 farmers, entrepreneurs, and craftswomen are set to showcase their agricultural products and handicrafts. 

Backed by joint organizational support from regional directorates, municipal networks, and the Governorate of Halabja, this year's expanded four-day iteration is projected to see a record-breaking turnout exceeding 300,000 people.

FYI

The Halabja Pomegranate Festival has evolved into one of the most prominent agricultural, economic, and cultural events in the Kurdistan Region, serving as a critical platform to showcase the area's renowned agricultural output. 

Halabja and the surrounding Sharazoor plain are celebrated for producing some of the highest-quality pomegranates in the Middle East, a staple crop that drives the local agrarian economy and supports thousands of rural livelihoods.

Beyond its agricultural focus, the annual festival plays a vital role in stimulating local commerce, bolstering agro-tourism, and providing high-visibility market opportunities for home-based businesses, local cooperatives, and traditional craftswomen. 

The inclusion of environmental initiatives, such as this year's 5,000-sapling planting campaign, underscores a growing regional effort to combine economic development with climate resilience and sustainable agricultural practices.

The festival’s footprint has expanded rapidly year over year, drawing massive crowds of domestic tourists from across the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq, as well as international visitors. 

This trajectory is evidenced by the success of the 11th Halabja Pomegranate and Autumn Festival and attracted more than 270,000 visitors over a three-day period.

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