The three-day Cyprus food festival that begun on Saturday would continue till this night at Royal Park Residence Hotel in the capital’s Banani.

The hotel management said they were holding the festival for the first time after Holey Artisan Bakery attack on July 1, 2016.

Offering over a dozen of Cypriot cuisine, the Royal Park Residence executive chef Rajeeva  Mendis  said they used to serve Cypriot  cuisine  night every Tuesday but stopped it after the attack.

‘Now, we see good time to hold the festival,’ said Rajeeva.

The organisers said Cyprus is close to the Middle East and their cuisine tastes mixture of Greece and Turkey as ingredients like parsley, garlic and yoghurts were the essentials in most of the dishes while hot spices were not used.

The hotel’s chief executive officer Keerthi Weragoda said they used to serve country-theme food every night in their restaurant as people want to relish different tastes.

He said they were now spending more money for security arrangement following the Holey Artisan attack.

‘We need to spend additional half a million takas for security arrangement following the attack. Earlier, the amount of money was our profit margin, but now we are spending it for security purpose,’ Keerthi told New Age.

Sri Lankan high commissioner Crisanthe De Silva and the first female ambassador of the Maldives, Aishath Shaan Shakir, among others, joined the festival.

Lankan high commissioner said his country was now completely safe for tourism.