By Roy Lie Atjam
Mangoes are hanging like green pendants on trees across Bangladesh.
Mango, sweet mango is internationally venerated at festivals, street processions, and float shows. What is the importance of Mango Festivals? The main point of the Mango Festival is the celebration of the bountiful harvest.
Various mango seasons around the world are running between April and August. Popular mango-producing countries and regions are Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, and the Philippines to mention a few.
Bangladesh ranks seventh in mango production globally, producing nearly a hundred indigenous mango varieties. The mango season in Bangladesh starts around end-May and ends by early August. Most of the indigenous mango varieties have been distinct for their aroma, texture, and taste thanks to the soil and climatic conditions in Bangladesh.
As many in Europe yearn for authentic, quality and tasteful tropical fruits, on 20th June 2023, Bangladesh Embassy in the Netherlands organised a MANGO FEST at Bangladesh House.
Mango Diplomacy
Since last year, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has started mango diplomacy. Sheikh Hasina recently sent 600 kg of mangoes as a gift to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to strengthen bilateral relations. The mangoes included both the Himsagar and Langra varieties.
Mangoes have historically played a role in soothing tense political relations between countries. Examples include Jawaharlal Nehru presenting mangoes to Mao Zedong and Sheikh Hasina sending mangoes as a gift to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
To get an idea of the international veneration of mangoes, there are more than 1,200 varieties of mangoes that come in many different sizes, shapes and colours. Some are heart-shaped, round, oblong and long.
The Dinamulag Festival also known as the Zambales Mango Festival is an annual festival held in the province of Zambales in the Philippines to celebrate the bountiful harvest of the province’s mangoes. Float parades, and street dancers clad in mango-inspired costumes are part of the celebrations.
The Dutch dignitaries and diplomatic corps in attendance were struck by the aroma and taste. Someone even termed the Bangladeshi mango as the “champagne of mangoes”.
All sweet and savoury items on display were mango-made and were creatively conceived and prepared by ladies at the Embassy, starring the murabba, green mango salad, mango custard, mango yoghurt, mango cake, mango halwa, mango Phiri, green mango juice (mildly blended with spice).
Further afield in the Caribbean, particularly in the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, there are also mango events. The theme for 2023 is entitled “Mango, the Super Food, for the Inner and Outer Body”.
The lyrics of a popular folk song in Trinidad and Tobago say “Mangoes, mangoes, mangoes, give meh ah penny to buy mangovert, mango teen…” which goes on to list the many varieties of mango that are found on those islands. The Network of Rural Women Producers of Trinidad and Tobago (NRWPTT) in collaboration with the Faculty of Food and Agriculture of the University of the West Indies (UWI) will launch its 17th annual mango festival in July, showcasing Trinidad and Tobago’s various mangoes (70) and their economic potential. The festival also aims to boost the local tourism sector while fostering the expansion of the mango industry.
Gia Gaspard Taylor, president of the NRWPTT, said “The fruit lovers’ affair has also received backing from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Malta and the Commonwealth Women in Government Conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh” (17-19 June 2023). The 17th Trinidad and Tobago Mango Festival will take place at the UWI on the 16th -17th of July 2023, payinghomage to the King of Tropical Fruit, the Mango!
It is alleged that a former palace chef, John Higgins, told the National Post: besides duck and chocolate cake “The Queen really enjoyed mangoes”.
Mango, some call it a symbol of the joy of life. May the 2023 mango festivals in the Philippines, India, on the island of Nevis and other venues around the world bring joy to the heart of all mango lovers.
Kudos to the Bangladesh Embassy for showcasing and highlighting mangoes from their country. It is an excellent way to bring awareness, agriculture development and goodwill to Bangladesh mango production.
