BEIRUT: The Ibrahim River Festival, designed to draw attention to the beauty and history of one of Lebanon’s most legendary regions, kicked off on Sunday as people enjoyed the last day of the long Eid al-Fitr break.

It is hoped that the festival, inaugurated by Tourism Ministry representatives on behalf of Minister Fadi Abboud, will help to attract tourists to the more than 60-kilometer stretch which follows the river from its source in Afqa, Mount Lebanon, to its mouth between the coastal towns of Jounieh and Byblos.

A plan to develop the archaeological heritage of the area and making the sites more accessible to visitors was also unveiled at the festival launch by Nahr Ibrahim Mayor Toni Matar.

The tourist development plan includes improving existing hiking and climbing trails and introducing camping facilities, which are designed to revive the area’s flagging economy and encourage more people to return to traditional artisan crafts.

The banks of the river, known in ancient times as Adonis, are loaded with Roman ruins, riverside cafes, and grassy openings perfect for picnics or sightseeing while the location, some 45-minutes from Beirut, makes the site a welcome alternative to the busy, or overly expensive, beaches.

The area was once a popular pagan pilgrimage destination, famed in mythology as the final resting place of Adonis, the mortal lover of the Roman goddess Venus who was killed while hunting and died in her arms. It is said that it is his blood which colors the river red each spring.

Remains of a Roman temple dedicated to the goddess of love and beauty now lie near the village of Yanuh while the remnants of an ancient aqueduct, partially restored by the Directorate General of Antiquities, can also be seen.

Lebanon has experienced dizzying tourist growth in the last few years, with some 1.8 million visiting in 2009 and even more thought to have visited in 2010, but the majority of the tourists flock to, and center themselves around, Beirut, putting a disproportionate burden on the capital and failing to redistribute the of influx of wealth nationally.

The ministry has been engaged in an ongoing campaign to highlight the country’s many other attractions in order to alleviate the pressure and further mature the sector.