3 September 2020
The melon season is in full swing in Central Asia. With some claim that 1 August is the start of the season, other diehards maintain that these titans of the fruit world should not be eaten before 1 September. Now we’re in September, it’s open season for melon munchers everywhere.

Uzbekistan’s President Mirziyoyev inspects this year’s unprecedented melon harvest
Turkmenistan opts for somewhere in the middle, choosing the second Sunday in August as its celebration of all things melon with a Melon Day holiday.

Over in Tajikistan, the vexed question of who should run in next month’s presidential election was decided by a traditional melon carry off. The contest, between the father and son team of President Emomali Rahmon and the upstart pretender to his throne, Rustam Emomali, was won by the father, who will now run for his fifth term on 11 October.

Leave a Reply