Shillong ready to host Indian Cherry Blossom Festival in Nov

Nature’s beauty gives us enough reasons to travel to different parts of the world. Adding to this charm of nature, cherry blossom festival in Shillong needs a special mention here as it changes the entire landscape of the place. One can get to see cherry blossom in few countries such as India, Pakistan, Japan, Siberia and China. The blooming of these flowers and their short life often symbolise the fleeting form of nature, which keeps changing itself from time to time. Due to its similarity with human life, which is beautiful and yet has to come to an end, Japan celebrates life and mortality during the blooming of cherry blossom. The good news is, the Government of Meghalaya has decided to celebrate Indian cherry blossom festival in Shillong through the second instalment of the International Cherry Blossom Festival in November, 2017.

The festival is scheduled to take place from November 8–11, at a time when the wooded forests of Shillong will turn pink due to the blooming of thousands of cherry blossoms across the entire region. As a move for the preparation of this festival, cherry trees have been planted at Mawphlang, New Shillong, Ward’s Lake and the Umiam Lake-Shillong road.


Besides the amazing sight of cherry blossoms all over the place, the festival will also feature interesting activities for travellers including guided night walks through the blossoms, bike rallies and photography contests. Apart from that, there will also be wine and music, live performances and stalls that will showcase and sell the local arts and crafts of Meghalaya. The local performances during the International Cherry Blossom Festival in Shillong this year will essentially include folk and rock music, and dances by artistes from different parts of the Northeast. In order to promote the growth of these flowers, the locals will be given cherry blossom saplings.