Summer means the sweet taste of the mango, the king of fruits. And if mangoes are free, even across the seas in California in the United States, crowds are bound to gather. That is exactly what happened in San Francisco, where hundreds of foreign nationals gathered to taste famous Indian mango varieties free of charge.

Several videos and photos of this free-tasting festival of Indian mangoes on American soil went viral on social media. The long queues of foreigners waiting to taste mangoes such as Alphonso and Kesar, and the festive atmosphere, caught the attention of internet users worldwide.

The event was organised by Darshil, a community leader of Indian origin living in San Francisco. Its main aims were to introduce Americans to genuine Indian mangoes and to bring back the taste of childhood for Indians living abroad. This was the fourth year in a row that the 'Annual Mango Celebration' has been held.

Alphonso, Kesar and Chausa mangoes from India were handed out free to the hundreds of people who came. Volunteers spent the whole day peeling and cutting the mangoes into pieces and serving them to visitors.

Jared Sidel, one of the festival's organisers, shared several photos on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), writing: "Best mangos I've had. Incredible vibes." In the same post he said about 200 people came.

Although demand for Indian mangoes in the US market is sky-high, supply is quite limited, so mangoes there are treated as a luxury product.

The report is based on NDTV.

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