Festival for 'aam' aadmi begins

Do you want to see a mango as small as a litchi and as big as a papaya? Well, you will find all that and more at the 23rd Mango Festival.

Do you want to see a mango as small as a litchi and as big as a papaya? Well, you will find all that and more at the 23rd Mango Festival.

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Around 500 varieties of mangoes, including rare varieties of the king of fruits are displayed at the festival that was inaugurated on Friday by Delhi’s social welfare minister Kiran Walia at Dilli Haat, Pitampura.

The 23rd Mango Festival showcases how mango —Mangifera Indica — still holds the top position among fruits, officials from Delhi Tourism said.

The 23rd edition of the festival has received tremendous participation from traditional growers of mango, especially from Jhinjhana (near Saharanpur), Lucknow, Meerut and Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh). Apart from providing an opportunity to visitors to savour the mangoes from various parts of the country, the festival also offers a package deal of fun and frolic for the entire family.

It has a mango eating competition for men and women. There are stalls for sale of fresh mangoes, processed food such as pickles, chutneys, mango pulp, juice, jams, jelly and aam papad.