The cool mountain city of Tomohon in North Sulawesi will hold the second Tomohon Flower Festival from 20 – 24 July to promote Tomohon as the City of Flowers. Highlight of the event is the Tournament of Flowers on 23 July when floral floats from the regencies in North Sulawesi and throughout Indonesia will parade down Tomohon’s main street. Accompanying the floats are marching bands, dance groups and gaily decorated  traditional horse-drawn carts, known here as “bendi’s”.  An independent panel will judge the best floats, performances and bendi’s.

While from the 20-23 July the Tomohon Flower Queen will be chosen from among a pageant of Minahasa beauties, said Tomohon mayor  Jefferson S.M. Rumajar at a press conference at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in Jakarta.

Tomohon is a comfortable one hour’s drive from Manado, capital city of North Sulawesi.

Still in conjunction with efforts to promote Tomohon as a flower and cultural tourism destination, the Tomohon International Choir Competition (TICC)  will be held here from 18 – 21 August which comprise competitions in categories for best  Children’s Choir , Youth Choir, Mixed Choir, Male Choir, Female Choir, Senior Mixed Choir, Musica Sacra, Gospel & Spiritual, Pop & Jazz, and Folklore.

Participants hail from Indonesia and international participation, where a  number of categories will be judged by an international panel, said mayor Jefferson.

Meanwhile, Director General for Tourism Marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, said that his Ministry supports the Tomohon Flower Festival, which is one of Indonesia’s 10 top core events,  considering, moreover, that Manado’s tourism infrastructure and hotel facilities have been far improved after Manado hosted the World Ocean Conference in 2009 while Bunaken is one of Indonesia’s best and most popular dive sites.

For more information please click on Destination Manado, Tomohon, dan Bunaken