Sheikan Olive Harvest Festival Kicks Off in Iraq

Shafaq News / The Sheikan Olive Harvest Festival, a sacred weather for the Yazidi community, began in the eastern province of Dahuk on Wednesday.

The festival, which takes place annually, involves the extraction of oil to light the Lalish Temple.

Lukman Sulaiman, a spokesperson for Lalish, told Shafaq News Agency that "The Olive Harvest Festival starts in the late of March and is marked by religious celebrations and ceremonies."

He added, "A number of religious men and caretakers, along with a large number of women, participate in the Olive Harvest Festival and extract oil using traditional methods."

Sulaiman explained, "The extracted oil is used to light the 366 candles inside the Lalish Temple, which symbolize the number of days in a year." He also said that "Volunteers pick olives from the trees surrounding the Lalish Temple in the month of December each year and store them for four months in special warehouses."

The Lalish Temple has over 650 olive trees, whose fruits are used only for religious celebrations, marking the light of God, according to the Yazidi religion.