WELCOME TO THE 18th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL MANGO FESTIVAL

July 9, 10 and 11, 2010

India is the birthplace of the mango. From the foothills of the Himalayas to the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Indian people have nurtured and improved the mango for over five centuries. To walk among the trees and its people – the Spartan earth beneath your feet - is to understand the ancient mango and its hold on this land. Our history with the mango is a mere century and a half; yet, we have learned much, putting our mark on this jewel of the East. Now we look back to India and the centuries of tradition for secrets new and old; the synergy of East and West creating something truly special.

This July 9, 10 and 11, 2010, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden will once again celebrate the mango at the 18^th Annual International Mango Festival. Over the three days of the festivities we will celebrate the mango as an object of beauty and admiration, a subsistence crop for the people and as a niche and mainstream commercial fruit of the future. Mango experts and enthusiasts of the world will gather at Fairchild for formal learning in our Grower’s Summit 2010, which will deliver specific recommendations on varieties and directions for the growing of the Indian mango in the Americas. A Chef’s roundtable will convene eastern and western ideas and feature the Indian variety infused with a western pragmatism.

Two full days of mango festivities will feature a wide range of products, ideas and of course the star of our show, the mango itself in all its glory. Mangos have been collected from the far reaches of the globe and nurtured in South Florida, following in the footsteps of David Fairchild, the most venerable mango collector of them all. Mangos in every culinary creation, work of art and on every flat surface. India will be honored through fruit, tree and ideal by the dedicated staff and volunteer army of Fairchild. You will never look at the mango in the same way, as we draw a veil of paisley over the summer and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

Like Ganesha, Shiva, Lakshmi and the host of Hindu Gods, the mango will be at Fairchild in a myriad of forms, but at its heart will be a common energy, and it is this commonality of mango and India that we celebrate.

For information of Curator's Choice mango trees, click here.

Visit our mango Blog: For The Love of Mangos-India, click here

For information on mango tree care, click here.

For a complete program, click here.