Tourism in Meghalaya continues to be a major revenue driver with the state earning over ₹133.42 crore from festivals last year against an investment of ₹23.50 crore. Building on this success, Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Tuesday formally launched the state’s Autumn Calendar 2025, unveiling a series of major cultural and entertainment events lined up across key districts. The Minister said the calendar is designed not just to entertain but to strategically position Meghalaya as a premier tourism destination, bringing international acts to Shillong and expanding the state’s reputation as a hub for music, culture and festivals.
Speaking on the Cherry Blossom Festival, Lyngdoh said, “As you are aware, the festival will be held at Shillong at the JN Stadium in order to give visitors a different feel altogether, where there will be a walk-in facility and the entire stretch of the road meeting in Polo Ground will be pedestrianised throughout the two days of the festival. And also, we will have various stalls and displays as one walks towards the stadium.”
Highlighting the star lineup, the Minister announced, “For day one of Cherry Blossom, as you are aware, I had made the announcement that international stars Jason Derulo, Nora Fatehi and The Script. Nora Fatehi has a huge fan following in India and her most known stage performance so far has been a performance at the FIFA World Cup held at Qatar in 2022. This Cherry Blossom will be her first Indian show. For day two, we are in a negotiation stage with a few artists. We will be sharing information with you in the next 10 days.”
On logistics, Lyngdoh said, “The capacity of the stadium is 30 to 35 thousand. As of now, we have sold 9,000 plus tickets only to tourists.” Addressing concerns, he added, “We have tackled traffic issues for several years now so I don’t see any reason why we should not do this year as well.”
He recalled last year’s returns: “The state government had invested to the tune of ₹5 crores and this yielded a total economic stimulus of ₹59.98 crores. As of now, tentatively for this year, our budget is around ₹4 crores as we speak.”
Detailing the overall success, Lyngdoh said, “I’ll just mention events held last year where the state government had invested a total amount of ₹23.50 crores and the entire return on that investment is ₹133.42 crores. This covers Cherry Blossom Festival and Me.gong, Bryan Adams, Allen Walker, Ed Sheeran, Winter Tales and Literary Fest. Cumulatively, the investment was ₹23.50 crores whereas the return was ₹133.42 crores.”
