Meghalaya Government has decided to change the venue for the Shillong Cherry blossom festival. This year, the festival will be held in Ri Bhoi district.
Minister incharge of Tourism Paul said the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival, which is a major crowd puller in the last few years, is also scheduled to be held from November 17 to 19.
The Minister has also informed that the department will organize sleuths of events to promote Meghalaya as the ultimate tourist destination in the country.
Informing that tourists flow in the state has reached 15 lakhs annually, the Minister said the department aims to further enhance the tourists inflow in the state.
Addressing pressmen here, Lyngdoh said a three-day Megha Kayak Fest, which is an annual whitewater contest, will be held at Umtham village, which is also known as the Whitewater village of Meghalaya – from October 12 to 14.
This will be followed by the Shillong Literary Festival, which aims to honour, remember and reflect on cultural heritage, wellness, and strategies for helping and uplifting chidlren and youth, to be held in Shillong from November 14 to 16.
The festival had to be cancelled last year following the Mukroh firing incident which killed 6 persons of which five are from Meghalaya and an Assam forest guard.
The other festivals that are lining up include Me.Gong Festival, which is to promote the culture, uniqueness and lifestyle of the Garo people and promoting Garo Hills as a tourism destination, the Winter Tales Festiva, a one-of-a-kind project and a festival curated by Dakti Crafts which serves as a platform for Meghalaya’s unique talents and entrepreneurs to convey their stories via food, arts, craft and music, and the Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project, which seeks to provide a musical platform for local artists.
However, the dates for these festivals will be announced later.
Stating that Meghalaya is on a growth trajectory, Lyngdoh said, “Therefore, there is always space for improvement and certainly public conveniences need to be installed. Certainly there is a gap between demand and supply and this is an area we keep improving, we keep learning and we will certainly ensure that we upscale amenities we have currently.”
The minister also announced that beginning next year, there will be regular shows held at U Soso Tham Auditorium and Lariti.
“Since there is this constant demand from visitors, we will be having regular shows, one at U Soso Tham Auditorium which will be hosted by the Arts and Culture department along with the support of the department of Tourism and second we also have the Lariti (which earlier known as SICPAC) I had undertaken another inspection of Lariti last week and we are ready now to open up and start the services and utilize the 3 theatres we have inside the Centre and ampitheatre outside. So there will be regular events beginning next year,” he added.