On the occasion of National Paddy Day, the Pokhara Tourism Council organised the annual Paddy Plantation Festival at Hemja of Pokhara Metropolitan City-25.

The 17th Paddy Plantation Festival and the second National Hemja mud festival were held on Wednesday with the slogan ‘Pokhara for all seasons’.

There was an encouraging presence of foreign tourists at the festival with both locals and tourists seen enjoying the festival.

The festival was marked with fun games and competitions such as Ox racing in the mud; rice planting and fishing competitions, short-distance races and tug-of-war.

Gopi Bahadur Bhattarai, chairman of the council said that the main objective of the festival was to promote Pokhara through agro-tourism.

“The festival will help in motivating the farmers to conserve cultivable land when they see that such festivals could be a tourist attraction,” said Bhattarai.

On this occasion, the council also honoured the best farmers of Hemja.

The festival ground was spread across 10 ropani of farmland of local farmers.