Aya Saleh - Ahram
The “juiciest festival in Egypt,” as the festival’s website describes itself, will celebrate the mango, one of the country's most savoured-after fruits. The two-day festival will comprise a mango entertainment parade and activities, a mango bazaar, and a mango market.
Participants can buy the most delicious, high-quality mangoes at wholesale prices in the open gardens of the event venue.
The entertainment parade will comprise various musical, performance, and folk art shows, as well as motorcycle, cycling, and skateboarding groups, according to the festival’s Facebook page. Public areas will contain food and beverage stands as well as medical caravans.
All festival activities will be open to the public free of charge.
However, the export forum will only be open to sponsors, traders, companies, export councils, exporters, and diplomatic and political delegations.
In addition to providing all types of mangoes, joy, and fun to the public, the festival’s mission is to increase the export of mangoes to international markets while maximizing the mango industry’s growth and sustainability.
The festival also aims to boost tourism in Ismailia - the quaint Suez Canal city that was born with the international waterway more than 160 years ago. Egypt's first-ever mango festival was held in New Cairo in 2019.
It featured a tasting corner, a mango plantation, a shopping bazaar, and entertainment activities. The first edition of the Ismailia mango festival was held in 2022 in collaboration between the government and the Mango Union of Ismailia.
200 years of mangoes
For more than 150 years, Egypt has been cultivating more than 100 types of mango, Ahmed Damarani, manager of the online mango business Ismalawy, told Al-Ahram Weekly in a previous interview.
The mango was first introduced to Egypt in 1825 during Mohamed Ali's reign. And in less than 25 years Egypt became a leading producer of all types of mangoes in the Middle East.
In the decade, 20-25 new cultivars have been introduced to Egyptian farms. Mangoes in Egypt are mostly farmed in Ismailia, Sharqiya, Noubariya, and Giza.
Ismailia: The finest mangos in Egypt
The mango is one of the most important crops in Isamilia, with 25 percent of the governorate’s cultivated land devoted to the fruit, according to the festival’s Facebook page. The cultivated area has increased in recent years to reach 118,000 acres.
The governorate has exported nearly 1.35 million tons of mangoes during the past five years (2018-2022), with an average annual export value of about $5.5 million and an average annual production of 269,767 tons.
Recently, Egyptian farmers have started cultivating more foreign varieties, like Keitt and Nouemi, due to emergent issues affecting local varieties, especially in light of climate change.
Among the most famous kinds of mango in Ismailia are Ewais, Keitt, Nouemi, Kent, Yasmina, Fagr Kalat, Sadeeq, Galok, Hindi, Fons, Misk, and Kubaniyah.
Yummy and healthy!
Mangoes are savoured for their refreshing and sweet taste, with their fleshy and juicy insides varying in colour, shape, flavour, and seed size. But, in addition to the sweet taste, the mango is rich in healthy nutrients.
It is rich in protein, fibres, vitamins C, A, B-6, and K, folic acid, and potassium. Vitamin C boosts the immune system. Vitamin A helps our bodies fight infections. It also has over 25 kinds of carotenoids that keep our immune systems healthy by producing more white blood cells.
These vitamins and essential nutrients make one feel full and, therefore, can help in weight loss - eaten in moderation. Moreover, mango’s fibrous contents boost the digestive system and help to burn excess calories, reducing body fat and blood sugar.
Mangoes have multiple benefits for the skin. Vitamin C in mangoes can help fight acne and clear up clogged pores and Vitamin A clears the skin.
Lastly, Vitamin A in the fruit renourishes hair!
