Mango fest kicks off at Janakpuri Dilli Haat

New Delhi: Yellow, red, and green — the various colours of mango have started attracting its lovers to the 29th Mango Festival at Dilli Haat in Janakpuri. The three-day annual festival kickstarted on Friday for Delhiites to indulge in mango mania.

The festival has 15-20 stalls selling a variety of mango-based products, including aam papad, aam panna, pickles and mango candies among others. Speaking to this correspondent, Mukesh Manocha, the stall owner of Simran Mouth Fresheners, said: “Mango keeps bringing me back here.”

Mr Manocha has been setting up a stall at the festival for the last 3 to 4 years selling churan, namkeen, flax seeds, and mouth fresheners. Another seller, K.L. Tiw-ari, said: “We have been setting up this stall since it took place at Talkatora Indoor Stadium.”

The event has other entertaining performances lined up, the first being a Mix Tape Band performance which took place on Friday. This is to be followed by a performance by DJ Viru and qawwali by Yousuf Khan Nizami in the next two days.

The organisers are expecting a footfall of 50,000 this year with more promotion, increased diversity in mangoes and its products, and fascinating activities for all age groups, including slogan writing competition for children, mango eating competition for men and women and mango quiz.

An exhibition of the king of fruits gives a feel of unity in diversity in one elongated hallway. Over 500 varieties of mangoes are on display from various parts of the country. Out of the total 17 stalls, 9 are government-owned, while the rest are owned by private orchard owners and farmers. Owners of mango gardens are mostly from Uttar Pradesh.

“I started preparing for the festival 7-8 days prior to its commencement,” said Mohammad Hanif, a farmer who claims to have 380 mango trees in his garden each of different species.

He claimed that his grandfather had planted this garden in 1971 which is in Khairabad, Sitapur (UP). He has won Rs 5,000 as1st prize for best Dushehari mango and a 2nd prize of `3000 for Fajri, Husn-E-Ara, Mallika and Kesar.

Toffee Mango and Lemon Mango, the smallest man-go and the biggest varieties of mango respectively, are the most fascinating items at the exhibition.