Beijing Watermelon Festival coming soon

The organizing committee of the 26th Beijing Watermelon Festival announced the new highlights for this year at a press conference, on May 15, in south Beijing's Daxing district.

The annual watermelon festival will kick off on May 28 in Xigua – known as watermelon town – in Daxing district, a major production area for the fruit, and the joyful event will last until July.

This year's festival, focusing on innovating more wonderful activities, will provide visitors with more interesting experiences than previous ones over the past 25 years, such as a watermelon gourmet competition, a competition for the sweetest watermelon, a China rose exhibition, and a folk culture tourism festival.

As one of the most influential agricultural festival in China, Daxing's Watermelon Festival has played an important role in branding the district, increasing farmers' income and promoting the industrialization of watermelon planting.

It is also a good opportunity to promote the district's tourist resources on the international market, since there will be a group of global exchange activities held during the festival, including Gourmant World Cookbook Awards and a forum on international new media.

The district will release a scheme on the innovative development of its tourism and a three-year action plan for the industry during the festival, hoping to build a tourism destination with features of ecological agriculture and health care, as well as creative and cultural sightseeing spots in South Beijing.