Halabja pomegranate festival opens with 502 stalls

HALABJA — The 12th Halabja Pomegranate and Autumn Festival opened Wednesday with 502 stalls selling locally grown pomegranates, other fruit, dried produce, food and handicrafts.

The festival runs through Saturday, a day longer than last year’s three-day event. Organizers expect large numbers of tourists to come to buy fruit and other products from Halabja and surrounding areas, where vendors are selling several varieties grown in local orchards.

Khalat Amin, a pomegranate vendor at the festival, told 964media that the fruit on sale comes from orchards across Halabja and nearby areas. “Our pomegranates include the Salakhani, Malasi and Larash varieties, all grown in the orchards of Halabja,” Amin said.

Halabja’s best-known variety, Salakhani, is known for its rich flavor and soft texture and is shipped to markets across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

“I have been a grocer for 30 years, and I personally like Larash pomegranates because they taste better and are more juicy,” Amin said.

The festival also features traditional handicrafts, local food and artistic and folk performances.

More than 400,000 people attended last year’s festival, according to organizers. In 2024, nearly 300,000 visitors packed the streets of Halabja for the 10th edition, held Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, and pomegranate sales reached 1.435 billion dinars (about $950,000 at the time).

Halabja police announced security measures for the festival under a decision by the governorate’s security committee. Visitors are barred from bringing weapons, fireworks, explosives or other prohibited items into the festival grounds, and police urged residents and visitors to comply throughout the four days.

Halabja, a governorate near the Iranian border, lies about 83 kilometers southeast of Sulaymaniyah.