THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ongoing mango festival on Kanakakkunnu Palace premises had a special visitor on Monday. Playback singer M G Sreekumar who dropped in at the festival venue in the morning and spent around an hour at the fest venue before leaving with his favourite fruits.
Titled Mambazhakalam family expo, the exhibition-cum-sales and entertainment festival organised by the Malankara Social Service Society is attracting huge crowd during the vacation season.
About 50 species of mangoes have been put up for sale at the festival. They range from Alphonso, one of the superior varieties in terms of flavour and sweetness, Sindooram and Thiruvananthapuram’s own Kottukkonam. Ethinic varieties include the naattu mambazham and pulissery mambazham.
Expo’s coordinator Subhash Anchal said they are getting an average of 5,000 visitors a day. “The expo has been planned as a recreation spot during the summer vacation. Our visitors are mostly families,” he said.
The festival is not just about fruits. There is a honey section where different varieties of honey, including “sour honey”, have been put up for sale. Most of these varieties were produced at the units of Malankara Social Service Society.
For foodies, there is a food court run by the Kudumbashree which features ethnic Kerala dishes.
To make it a vacation entertainment location, the festival venue has a mini amusement park with boating facilities. The 'history cave' takes one to Kerala’s past and eminent personalities with the help of audio-visual installations. Horse ride is also offered.
An antique stall spread over 5,000 sq m displays old equipments, including kitchen utensils in the old Kerala homes. The long list of exhibits include gramophone, old table fans, tape recorders, old model cycles, clocks, lamps kitchen utensils like ural, ulakka etc.
The commercial section includes 70 stalls put up by establishments selling items ranging from home appliances to curios. There is also a free medical check-up facility where the visitors can test their blood sugar level and BP. The festival will conclude on May 1.
Timing is from 11.30 am to 9 pm.