Kengtung to host Cherry Blossom Festival & Ethnic Food Exhibition on 24 Dec

The 2023 Cherry Blossom Festival and Ethnic Traditional Food Fair will be held in Loimwe, Kengtung Township of Shan State (East), on 24 December, according to the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism (Shan State).
The Cherry Blossom Festival is held every year during the winter when the cherry blossoms bloom, and this is the third time that the Cherry Blossom Festival will be held along with an ethnic traditional food exhibition.
To attract domestic travellers and tourists to the festival and to promote tourism, local ethnic cultural dances and songs from Shan, Arkha, Lahu, and Wa will be performed during the festival. “The festival is designated to hold five days during the cherry blossoming season, estimated to be the first week of January. In this territory, cherry plants have been grown since colonial years, and some are planted from generation to generation under projects. Therefore, the territory is covered with hundreds of cherry plants. The Cherry Blossom Festival will be held jointly with the Shan State government’s guidance, the Hotels and Tourism Directorate, and the Myanmar Hoteliers Association (Golden Triangle Zone) to promote the development of tourism in the Loimwe, the conservation of cherry trees, the traditional culture and customs of the ethnic people, and the food of the ethnic groups so that travellers can get to know more about them and achieve progress,” U Htin Aung Naing said.
In Myanmar, Chin and Shan States are the regions with the most cherry trees, and in the Loimwe region, there are two types of cherry trees, sweet and bitter, and cherry blossoms take about a month to bloom alternately.
In Southeast Asian countries, cherry blossom festivals are often held in Viet Nam and Thailand, including Myanmar, and Japan also values cherry trees. — ASH/TKO