THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Neyyar Mela, the biggest shopping festival and carnival in the capital, will begin on August 25. The annual festival coinciding with the Onam festivities will have several new features this year.
A highlight of the 19-day festival will be a grand water regatta which range from kayaking, canoeing to the traditional boat race of country crafts.
A novel feature will be a seven-day long theatre festival. There will be a contest for professional theatre groups. Another highlight will be a five-day-long Kalarippayattu show. There will be cash prize for the best Kalarippayattu team.
The venue of water events will be the Chenkal-Valiyakulam. District level competitions will be held for kayaking and canoeing. The race of country crafts will be held on September 9.
According to the organisers the mela, which began as a shopping festival has now evolved into a unique model combining shopping, entertainment and amusement activities.
This year, the mela will give special focus on sports competitions. Contests ranging from football to tug of war will be held in participation with the six panchayats in the Neyyattinkara taluk. Each panchayat will have a venue for a sports item.
There will be 60-odd shops selling a range of items form organic products to home appliances. There will be a food court which will have a special stall on tribal food.
Several government and quasi-government agencies will also associate with the festival. The Bharat Bhavan will organise Bharatheeyam, a dance festival which will see performances by artistes from different states.
Khadi Board will run a stall where live demonstrations of earthenware making and saree weaving will be performed. Forest Department will run a stall of forest produces.There will be a jackfruit festival which includes exhibition-cum-sale of food and medicines prepared from the fruit. A wide range of cuisine from jackfruit biriyani to snacks will be available here. There will be awareness programmes on the health benefits of jackfruit.
There will be a 150-foot long canvas painting depicting the history of Neyyattinkara firing. Artist Ajayan Aruvippuram will do the painting.The main venue of the event will be the Neyyattinkara municipal ground. Lighting will be done in a five km-long area. Agriculture show and amusement park are other attractions of the event.