Dubai hosts three-day Grand Kerala Festival

A dance performance. — Supplied photo

The UAE, a second home to about a million Indians from the state of Kerala, played host to a three-day festival focusing on the state’s art, culture, cuisine, films and traditions.

The Grand Kerala Festival-UAE (GKF-UAE) 2014 was the first edition of an international jamboree that aims to bring Kerala closer to its expatriate population.

The carnival saw Dubai’s Wonderland Amusement Park turning into a Kerala-themed village since Thursday, rekindling nostalgia among hundreds of Malayalees who thronged the venue during the weekend.

Actor Suresh Gopi inaugurated the carnival on Thursday. A show by director M. Jayachandran, keyboard maestro Stephen Devassy and seven popular Malayalam playback singers offered a musical feast to the audience. Scintillating performance by Dubai-based D4 Dance Academy, accompanied by live painting, was another highlight of the evening.

On day two, the focus was on humour, with a battalion of comedians led by actor Suraj Venjaramoodu making the audience laugh out loud.

Fashion and rock music got their share of attention on Saturday with four female fashion designers launching their designer wears at the venue and a high-octane musical by the band “Avial” and pop songs by Ancel Edwin rocking the stage.

Sujil Bose, CEO of Chlorophyll Media which organised the event, said the festival aimed to provide the ‘Kerala’ experience to Keralites, North Indians and non-Indians and promote the state to the whole world. “This will be an annual event for Dubai. We are also planning to launch the event in the UK and some other countries to reach out to a wider group of Malayalees and others.”

GKF-UAE’s food festival which showcased the cuisines of Malabar, Kochi and Travancore regions of Kerala, was an official event of the Dubai Food Festival.

Performances of popular art forms of Kerala, live painting shows and exhibitions, as well as competitions on embroidery, cookery, short stories and short films were also part of the festival. With an aim to support women empowerment, the festival also gave a platform to ten women entrepreneurs to display their designer wear at the stalls in the venue.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com