Baalbaq flowers and crafts Festival 2019 

The ministry of social affairs, jointly with the Union of Municipalities of Baalbaq, and in cooperation with the Baalbaq and Surroundings Development Association, kicked off on Friday the Flowers and Crafts Festival 2019. The 3-day event titled, ‘our joy is a flower not a bullet’, was held in Ras el Ain under the patronage of Baalbaq -Hermel mayor, Bashir Khodr, and included workshops (embroidery, pottery and accessories) for kids and women. The minister of tourism, Avedis Guidanian, toured the participating pavilions, as well as the cafes, recreational parks and restaurants sitting along the banks of Ras el Ain River. “We are prepared to face all challenges and to announce that tourism… shall live on, and so shall coexistence,” Guidanian said. On the impact of the state’s austerity scheme on planned festivals, the minister explained, “the state and festival organizers might be experiencing a financial emergency, but I repeatedly say that festivals are a key catalyst for internal tourism. Likewise, Khodr maintained that this year’s motto should be ‘restoring confidence in Baalbaq”, hinting to the improved security demonstrated by the beautiful flowers fair we are inaugurating today, as he said. (Al Diyar, July 8, 2019)