Summer lingers under the canopies of tall mango trees as a whiff of nostalgia fills the air on a Sunday morning. In June, the peak of Chennai’s mango season, Hanu Reddy Farms in Guduvanchery welcomes visitors for the 2023 edition of The Great Mango Festival. As dawn breaks, you can hear laughter as children begin to clamber up trees to reach for mangoes hanging from branches, reminiscent of their parents’ halcyon childhoods. Across the 60-year-old farm, over 900 people eager to escape the city gathered to celebrate India’s beloved fruit with activities tailored for all ages.
Mango tourism
“I want people to come and explore the culture of the mangoes of India,” says Hanu Reddy, the founder of Hanu Reddy Mango Tourism. “People get so passionate about mangoes, whether it’s stories of your childhood, conversations on whose backyard has the best mangoes, or how Alphonso is better than Langda… it’s a legacy that goes back for thousands of years.” This legacy inspired the third edition of the Great Mango Festival.
