Bahrain: Tens of thousands of people visited Bahrain’s ever-popular Farmer’s Market this weekend, making it one of the busiest ever.

The market, held every Saturday from 8am to noon at Budaiya Botanical Gardens, also took place on Friday this weekend in celebration of National Day.

Its executive manager Amani Abu Idris told the GDN that the response from the public had been “overwhelming” with 27,000 visitors recorded.

“We have 35 farmers taking part this year and seven participating restaurants,” she said.

“We had between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors each day during the first two weeks of the market.

“This week we were open on Friday and Saturday to celebrate National Day.

“People who work in the private sector have been requesting for a long time that we open on a Friday, as they work on Saturday and wanted a market on Fridays so that they could attend with their families.

“This Friday, we had fewer numbers than we usually would on a Saturday, but it far exceeded expectations.

So many people tried to visit the market yesterday that the main entrance had to be closed for a while and traffic diverted, Ms Idris added.

Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry security and safety head Juma Faraj told the GDN that authorities worked hard to stop the event being hijacked by those with ulterior motives.

“There are some people who want to take this as an opportunity, because a large number of people are gathered in one place, to turn it political and start grouping together,” he said.

“We’ve had several of these incidents and we always ensure that it’s broken up before it becomes an issue – before they are even inside, most of the time.

“We don’t want families and people to be uncomfortable here – this is meant to be a relaxed, entertaining, community event.”

Plainclothes officers and security personnel were dotted throughout the market to ensure visitors’ safety, Mr Faraj said.

“We have police and security dressed in civilian clothes throughout the event who ensure safety and security,” he said.

“Their job ranges from breaking up gatherings to ensuring that the plants and trees that make up the botanical garden are not disturbed.

“We also try to make sure that anyone who is easily angered or irritated is pulled away as well, as we don’t want to affect other people’s comfort.”

The official further said that visitors should share a car if visiting the market in future, to ease congestion.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who come from the same village or area – I don’t want to tell people what to do, but I’d like to encourage them to come to the market together,” he said.

“It would be better for the parking and it would also be better from a security standpoint in case of emergency evacuation.

“We’d also really like to encourage people to park at the Abu Saibh coastline, where we have buses ready to bring them over to the market.

“It’s quicker a lot of the time and it ensures you find parking.”

laala@gdn.com.bh