CNI News
6 December 2023
Traditional food sale and cherry blossom festival will be held in Loimwe region, Kengtung Township of eastern Shan State, according to the Directorate of Hotel and Tourism of Shan State.
Cherry blossom festival has been held in Loimwe where there are several hundreds of cherry trees when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom as a preserve of cherry trees since 2022.
Not only the cherry blossom festival this year, traditional food sale festival of ethnic groups in Kengtung region would be held, U Htin Aung Naing, director of the Directorate of Hotel and Tourism of Shan State, told CNI News.
" We have planned to hold two festivals in Kengtung that can be said as the capital of eastern Shan State. One is Cherry Blossom Festival and the other is traditional ethnic food sale festival. The food sale festival will be held from 26th to 28th December. During this festival, 13 ethnic groups living in Kengtung region will come and sell 88 kinds of their traditional foods. Cherry blossom festival will be held in the second or third week of December. It's hard to say exactly because the festival will be held when all cherry blossoms are in full bloom." he said.
people who come and study the cherry blossom festival
Several hundreds of cherry were grown in Loimwe region in the colonial era. Moreover, cherry trees were grown by the hundred anymore in 1990s. Cherries have been by the thousand in the region just now reportedly.
According to the directorate of hotel and tourism, the cherry blossom festival will probably be held in third week of December or in the first week of January 2024.
Some tourism companies from Thailand have been invited to the cherry blossom festival. Because a lot of tourists came to the festival last year, lots of tourists will come to the festival this year, which he has expected, said U Htin Aung Naing.
" The number of guests who came to the festival that was first held in 2022 was about 40,000. And then, about 75,000 guests came to the festival that was secondly held in 2023.
cherry trees
Eastern Shan State is near to Thailand. It takes you about three hours if you go to Kengtung from Tachileik by car. We have expected the tourists from the Thai side. It is convenient for local tourists from Yangon, Mandalay and other regions to come to Kengtung by flight. You can come from Naypyidaw by flight as well." he said.
Locals are worried because some guests tend to break the branches of cherry trees. Cherry blossom festival is held so as to educate people in order to prevent from damaging cherry trees because the branches of cherry trees are broken when the cherry blossoms are in bloom reportedly.
