Langda, Dashahari, Malda, Gulab-khas, Krishna-bhog, Fajali, Sindooree, Safeda…. you name any variety of mango, you’ll find it around you.

Delhi is organizing its 21st Mango Festival on Friday at Dilli Haat. Delhi Mango lovers can look forward to another fascinating display of this mouth watering fruit. Delhi Tourism is celebrating the grandeur of the king of fruits in style at the three-day mango festival being organized for the first time at Dilli Haat Pitam Pura. While mangoes in different taste, shapes and styles have already been in the market for quite sometime, the city still awaits the festival to relish the fruit in its various forms.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will inaugurate the 21st Mango Festival-2009 at Dilli Haat, Pitampura, which would followed by a cultural programme by Sahitya Kala Parishad. The General Manager of Delhi Tourism & Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) Kulanand Joshi says that Pitampura Dilli Haat is playing host to the 21st Mango festival. The Haat with its simple and elegant layout spread on 7.2 acres is a unique combination of traditional and rural market showcasing India’s diverse cultural heritage of crafts, art, handloom and cuisines all under one roof. He also informed that the 21st Mango festival is being organized by Delhi Tourism and Govt. of NCT of Delhi supported by Bhagidari, National Horticulture Board and APEDA, Punjab National Bank, and Axis Bank.

Joshi says that the Mango Festival showcases how the fruit mango still holds the prime position among fruits. If you want to have a look at a mango as small as a Litchi and as big as a Jackfruit, the Mango Festival is the place to be in. He also informed that the 21th Mango Festival this year has tremendous participation from many Govt. agencies who have attained expertise over the years like National Horticulture Board, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority U.P. State Horticultural Co-operative Marketing Federation Lucknow, Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad Uttar Pradesh Lucknow, Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi, Bihar Agriculture College (Rau) Sabour, Navsari Agricultural University Gujrat, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (Uttrakhand) , Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, CCS Haryana Agriculture University Hissar (Haryana), Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing (Saharanpur), Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing Maliabad (Lucknow) Horticulture, Department Malda (West Bengal) etc. besides large number of mango growers from Jhinjhana, Purkaji, Lucknow, Meerut, Saharanpur, Sitapur, Malda (West Bengal), Muzaffar Nagar and Siyana are also participating.

A national seminar on mango will be held at the site in collaboration with National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon on 4.7-2009 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. P.K. Tripathi , CMD, DTTDC will be the Chief Guest. Bijay Kumar, Managing Director NHB. will give a Key note lecture. About 150 mango orchardists will participate from all the states of India.