Great Wall Cigars hosts the 6th Shifang Cigar Festival. The official name of the festival is ‘Global promotion tour of the hometown of China cigars’. Great Wall Cigars is the organizer and host of the annual festival. 

Shifang, in the northwestern part of Sichuan Province, China, is the “Hometown of China Cigars”. It has a history of more than 400 years of cigar tobacco planting. Great Wall Cigar Factory, founded in Shifang in 1918, is the largest cigar manufacturer. Great Wall is also the only pipe tobacco manufacturer in China. So far, Great Wall handmade premium cigars have grown by 160% in the last year.

The festival

The 6th edition of the Shifan Cigar Festival took place from 5th to 8th November. Nearly 600 guests took the time to travel to Shifang and experience the cigar culture and life style of the “Hometown of China Cigars”. At the same time, the event was broadcast live on a large-scale network. This helps connecting the main venue to branch venues in more than 100 cities across the country. Nearly 10,000 people watched it simultaneously. The event was also live on social media platforms. That attract 23000 participants in China.

At the festival, attendees could experience the Chinese Cigar Town, China Cigar Museum, and other attractions on the spot, but also participate in the activities such as “Cigar Lovers Forum”, “Great Wall Cigar International Academic Forum”, “Cigar Blending Competition”, “Cigar Culture and Art Competition “Pipe Slowly Smoking Competition”, and “Cigar Night Party”, co-hosted by Great Wall Cigar and Shifang Municipal Government. 

Guests

The festival was opened by The Cuban ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira and the Dominican ambassador to China Briunny Garabito Segura. 

Pedro Ventura, the key member of the Grupo de Maestros and New Product Development Manager for premium hand-made cigars at Tabacalera de García, and Eduardo Gonzalez, the CEO of Compania Tabacos Quisqueya SRL are amongst the other guests, although the latter two only made an appearance via video due to travel restrictions and the covid-19 pandemic.

photo credit header photo: Tobacco Asia