Mokokchung, 24 November (MTNews): The inaugural edition of the Longkhum Cherry Blossom Festival concluded on Friday evening with an extravagant showcase featuring various artists. The three-day festival was organized by the Longkhum Tourism Development under the aegis of the Longkhum Village Council, aiming to promote tourism in Longkhum village.
Apart from the renowned cherry blossoms, Longkhum is a popular rural tourism destination in Nagaland, located about 20 km from Mokokchung town. It sits at the highest altitude in Mokokchung district, at 1846 meters above sea level, and holds the distinction of being the largest village in Mokokchung district in terms of geographical area. It shares boundaries with Wokha and Zunheboto districts.
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An event like the Cherry Blossom Festival was a much-needed breakthrough to further popularize Longkhum village tourism. Despite being the first edition and lacking government support, the community-led initiative yielded positive results, with a higher-than-expected visitor footfall.
“Hosting such a mega event with no prior experience brought about apprehensions regarding the outcome and the turnout of people. However, it turned out to be very successful—more than we expected. The response was overwhelming,” said Pangeryabang, the convener of the organizing committee.
The first day of the festival saw 1200 visitors, a number that increased to 1800 on the second day. However, on the third and final day of the festival, more than 3000 visitors were registered.