Detailed Information about Cochin Carnival & Its Importance

If one is to name that one festival that the whole of the Kerala or let us say particularly that Cochin eagerly waits for the whole year to finally come is the Cochin carnival. As we all know that Kerala was once in the colonial past under the Portuguese rule hence the traditions and the way of the celebrations of the Portuguese can be said to have been reflected in the Cochin carnival. The Cochin carnival is a said to have come from the Portuguese New Year celebration Revelry.

The celebrations take place every year during the last week in the month of December. The celebration starts with the paying of the tributes at the war memorial at the St Francis Church, Fort Kochi by the honorable dignitaries of the state that mark the official launch of the carnival. The celebrations are a major time for the enjoyment, fun and feasts in the whole of Cochin. As the year comes to an end what could be a better way to forget all the anomalies of the year and to celebrate the end of the year and gradually step into a new year.

During the festival the whole of the Kochi or call it Cochin is lit up and decorated with the wonderful colors of the state. A number of the events take place during this time that flocks a huge influx of the tourists into the state right from the national to the international ones. The carnival is a potpourri of the events in which the a number we can have an opportunity to have a watch of the rich culture, the variety in the delicacies in the state, the representation of the arts and the craft forms of the state along with the classical folk dances that are staged throughout Kochi.

A number of games and competitions are also organized during this time as the tug of war, the beach volleyball, the sea swimming, the bicycle racing etc. that leave the tourists with plenty of things to do and watch during the festival. There are a number of fairs too organized during this time that help you to shop for a few traditional things that you can carry back as a souvenir back to your home to remember the jolly times in Cochin.

All the preparations for the grand celebrations start in advance many day s before the main event begins. The people add to the attractions to the celebrations. The men and the women clad themselves in the fancy dresses and the traditional costumes. The people can be seen brimming with joy and the children bursting with joy and the enthusiasm and hence the Cochin carnival becomes a good place to be at for the Christmas and the new year celebrations. The celebrations dig deep into the midnight of the 31st December to mark the beginning of the New Year with the wonderful display of the fireworks at fort Kochi.

On the 1st of the January a huge procession is taken out on the streets of the Cochin that is usually led by a decorated elephant and followed by the people and the children with the beating of the drums.