Two announcements landed for the coastal city of Kalba this week, and they are tied together. Sharjah’s Ruler confirmed a new fish drying factory, plus a Jashe and Sahnah Festival happening on 24 September 2026. Maybe you have seen those two words and had no idea what they meant. Maybe you are just wondering if the festival is worth the drive east in September. Either way, this covers it.
Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, made the announcement on the “Direct Line” programme, which airs on Sharjah Radio and Television. Running the festival falls to the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on a site the city has set aside for it. And the thinking behind both is the same. Take a fishing tradition that fed east coast families for generations, and give it a real future, while helping the fishermen who keep it going.
A handful of people will care about this more than most.
Kalba’s fishermen and their families top that list, since the whole plan is built to steady their income and give the catch a proper market. After them come the food lovers and the heritage travellers, the ones who want the real Emirati coastal stuff and not some watered-down version made for tourists. There is also everyone across Sharjah and the rest of the UAE hunting for a September day out that isn’t yet another mall. And then there is the quietest group, people who keep bumping into the words jashe and sahnah on menus and in recipes and have never had anyone explain them properly.
If that is you, keep reading.
Jashe is dried fish, sun-dried, and it usually starts life as sardines. Sahnah is different. It is a fermented fish condiment, a strong savoury paste that gets stirred into rice and stews to wake them up. Both trace back to the UAE’s east coast, where fishing families dried and fermented whatever they caught so the food would last through the slow seasons when the sea was stingy. None of this is museum history, by the way. Emirati kitchens still lean on both today, which is exactly why the tradition is worth holding onto.
The trouble is small but real. Most people meet these foods as strange words on a menu, decide they must be fussy or difficult, and move right past them. They are neither. It is preserved fish, made the way coastal families have always made it. Once that clicks, the festival stops feeling niche and starts making sense.
It takes the old craft of drying fish and puts modern, food-safe methods around it. Officials first talked about the project back in January, after the Sharjah Chamber sat down with the Sharjah Fish Resources Authority and the Kalba Municipal Council to work out the details.
Their goals were pretty grounded. Hit proper food quality and safety standards. Push up the value of local fish products. Waste less. Store and market the fish better than before. Every one of those points to the same finish line, which is fishermen earning more for what they bring in.
So why bother building it? Because traditional sun-drying, charming as it is, is a bit of a gamble. It depends on the weather. Hygiene shifts from one batch to the next. And getting a fair price is tough when nobody has organised a proper way to sell the stuff. A dedicated facility patches those holes without messing with the method that makes jashe taste like jashe. Same recipe, sturdier engine.
The Jashe and Sahnah Festival runs on 24 September 2026, in Kalba, with the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry organising it. When he made the announcement, Sharjah’s Ruler thanked the Chamber for the festivals it already puts on around the emirate.
None of this is a first attempt, either. The Chamber has a working template already, over in Dibba Al Hisn, where its Al Maleh and Fishing Festival celebrates traditional fish salting and drying. That one has grown into a genuine heritage and economic draw, and its exhibition space more than doubled at the last edition. Kalba is basically getting the same idea, moved down the coast to a new address.
One thing worth flagging before you plan the day. The finer details, opening hours, how entry works, who is setting up stalls, none of that had been published when this was written. Check the Sharjah Chamber’s channels nearer the date if you want the specifics locked in.
A festival like this does a lot more than plate up dried fish. It hands Kalba a fixed spot on the yearly calendar, and those dates tend to pull crowds, prop up small vendors, and keep a food tradition breathing by giving people a reason to show up for it. The knock-on effects spread wide too, from the fisherman selling his haul to the little café down the street suddenly busier than usual.
If you like watching how the UAE turns its culture into steady local activity, this is a tidy case study. There is plenty more where that came from in our coverage of heritage and travel developments across the Emirates.
Zoom out and the factory and festival are just two pieces of something bigger. Sheikh Dr Sultan kicked off a major development drive in Kalba in April 2019, and the city is closing in on a big moment. December brings a whole run of inaugurations, the Jebel Deem project among them, along with the Al Hayar lake and rest area, the Wadi Al Helo roads, and the corniche. Add the Khor Kalba City heritage district, the Kalba Heritage Museum, and the Shell Theatre to that.
The short of it is that Kalba is being rebuilt into a place worth travelling for, one that blends nature and heritage with infrastructure that actually holds up. A fish factory and a food festival slot into that easily, handing the city a living tradition to put on show next to all the new attractions. Sketching out a route? Our list of things to do on the UAE’s east coast makes a solid starting point.
What is the Jashe and Sahnah Festival?
A heritage food festival in Kalba built around jashe, which is sun-dried fish, and sahnah, a fermented fish condiment. The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry runs it to honour east coast fishing traditions and back local fishermen.
When is the Jashe and Sahnah Festival 2026?
It is set for 24 September 2026, in Kalba.
Where is the Jashe and Sahnah Festival held?
In Kalba, a coastal city in Sharjah on the UAE’s east coast, at a site the Sharjah Chamber has allocated.
What is jashe?
Sun-dried fish, usually made from sardines, prepared by east coast fishing communities to keep their catch through leaner seasons.
What is sahnah?
A fermented fish condiment used to flavour Emirati dishes like rice and stews. It comes from the same coastal preservation tradition as jashe.
Why is Sharjah building a fish drying factory in Kalba?
To modernise the fish-drying craft with food-safe methods. The point is to lift the value of local fish products, cut waste, sharpen storage and marketing, and put more money in fishermen’s pockets.
Is the Jashe and Sahnah Festival free to attend?
Entry and timing had not been confirmed when this was written. Check the Sharjah Chamber’s official channels closer to 24 September for the latest.
What else is happening in Kalba?
Kalba has been part of a development push since April 2019, with December inaugurations lined up for the Jebel Deem project, the Al Hayar lake and rest area, the Wadi Al Helo roads, the corniche, the Khor Kalba City heritage district, the Kalba Heritage Museum, and the Shell Theatre.
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