The International Annapurna Food Festival kicked off in the tourist town of Pokhara on Friday.

Ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Germany, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Russia and South Korea jointly inaugurated the four-day food festival at Lakeside.

The festival is organised by the regional branch of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN).

Speaking at the inauguration session, the ambassadors praised the natural beauty of Nepal and stressed that the Himalayan Kingdom is still a safe destination for foreign tourists.

British ambassador, Keith G Bloomfield said the British Embassy in its travel advisories had regularly been encouraging the British tourists to visit Nepal. He said there has been significant inflow of foreign tourists in Nepal after the three-month long Maoist ceasefire.

“The government should respond to the Maoists’ ceasefire and take advantage of it”, Bloomfield said.

The ambassadors also participated in various sporting events following the inauguration of the festival.

The food festival offering a wide variety of foreign and Nepali cuisines, is being organised under Visit Pokhara programme by HAN. Dohori song competitions, Children’s Park, Rote Ping, and other musical programmes are other attractions of the event.