Tomohon to Bloom With International Flower Festival in August
Jakarta. The soft launching of the 2017 Tomohon International Flower Festival, or TIFF, attracted thousands to Jakarta during car-free day in the city center on Sunday (21/05).
The festival, which has been likened to the Rose Parade in Pasadena in the United States, will take place in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, on Aug. 7-12.
Participants and organizers, who arrived from North Sulawesi's Minahasa region, presented traditional music and dances in a joyful march, which ended at the Ministry of Tourism headquarters with a press conference to introduce the TIFF mascot, Kristo, named after krisan, or chrysanthemum flower, of Tomohon.
"TIFF is one of the creative efforts to promote Tomohon and increase tourist arrivals in North Sulawesi. ... It will make Tomohon famous for its flower industry," said Mumus Muslim, the ministry's secretary for tourism promotion.
Tomohon Mayor Jimmy Feidie Eman added that the festival is also meant to promote the region's scenic landscapes, which comprise seven mountain trails, seven lakes and seven waterfalls.
"Tomohon is the only city where we can observe three kinds of landscapes at the same time, especially from Temboan Peak," he said, adding that the number of foreign tourists visiting the city in 2016 reached 26,261.
"During TIFF, Tomohon expects the arrival of 6,000 foreign and 160,000 domestic tourists," he said.
The flower parade will be accompanied by a flower tournament featuring florists from several countries, a flower queen contest, cultural performances and a tourism, trade, investment and floriculture exhibition.
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