A colourful event is starting in the capital to bring the sweet taste of organic fruit from the hills, their distinctive farming heritage and the varied culture of the hill peoples to the doorsteps of people on the plains. Under the theme "The scent of hill fruit, the diversity of life", the three-day "Hill Fruit Fair 2026" will be held from 27 to 29 June on the grounds of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Complex on Bailey Road in Dhaka. The fair is organised under the management of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.

Barrister Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, State Minister for Land and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, will formally open the fair as chief guest at 10am on Saturday, 27 June, at the complex grounds. Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, will preside over the opening ceremony. The fair will be open to everyone every day from 10am to 8.30pm.

Special guests at the opening will be Dipen Dewan, MP for Rangamati hill district; Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, MP for Khagrachhari hill district; Saching Pru, MP for Bandarban hill district; and Mrs Madhabi Marma, MP from a reserved women's seat.

This year's fair will have 30 stalls from Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati hill districts. On display will be seasonal hill fruit such as mango, pineapple, jackfruit and banana, alongside rarer fruit including the wild blood fruit (rosko), rambutan and wild bael.

City dwellers and visitors will be able to taste fresh, chemical-free hill fruit and also get a close look at the way of life of the hill peoples, their traditional handicrafts and backstrap-loom weaving.

The organisers believe the fair is not just a place to buy and sell fruit: it will widen the market for fruit grown by marginal farmers in the three hill districts, raise public awareness and build a lasting bridge between consumers and producers. For city people, they say, it will also be a combined educational and cultural experience.

Every evening there will be a special attraction, with local artists from the ethnic communities of the three hill districts performing traditional cultural programmes on the fair grounds. All necessary administrative steps have been taken to manage the fair and ensure visitors' safety. To publicise it, banners, festoons and posters have been put up at important points in Dhaka, and publicity has been arranged in national dailies and on television scrolls.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.