The Ibri souq is the real thing — a working market serving the town and surrounding agricultural communities, rather than a tourist-facing imitation. The morning hours (before 11am) are the most active, with traders selling Omani dates (Ibri is in one of the country's date-growing regions), fresh produce, silver jewellery, halwa (the sticky local sweet made with saffron and rose water), and frankincense resins.
The Friday livestock market is particularly worth arriving early for, when goats, camels, and cattle are bought and sold in an outdoor area near the main souq. It is an excellent window into traditional rural Omani commerce. The souq is the kind of place that the more polished tourist destinations in Oman — Muscat's Mutrah Souq, for example — try to recreate but rarely capture. Bring small bills for coffee and halwa from the stalls.