The Mylapore Festival grows bigger
This year’s Mylapore Festival appeared bigger and better than last year’s. What started off as a kolam contest a few years ago has now become a much-awaited festival, complete with concerts at the Nageswara Park, art and craft classes for children, classical dances inside Sri Kapali temple, a handicrafts bazaar, an exhibition of Tamil books, and performances by troupes from Kerala, Puduchery, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Heritage and nature walks were arranged on Saturday and Sunday.
The Art Street (Pitchupillai Street) created by fine arts students drew the maximum crowds, mainly women. The Food Street (Sundareswarar Street) also drew crowds – several items were sold out in the first two or three hours.
Vincent D’Souza (editor, Mylapore Times and Arcot Road Times) and his team deserve all the credit for organizing the entire show spread over four days. It’s an exercise he has been conducting the past seven or eight years, kick-starting the process September-October onwards, paying attention to the minutest detail. Indeed, it was the success of the Mylapore festival that really led to a few of us coming together to organise Madras Day and Madras Week.
Yes, credit must also go to Sundaram Finance for supporting the Mylapore festival the past few years. Corporate support for community events is always so welcome.
I will let the pictures here tell you the story better. From top: Stilt-walkers walk down Art Street; fancy jewellery and knick-knacks for women on sale; an artist completes the portrait of the seated girl in less than 30 minutes; and crowding around a corner for more knick-knacks and jewellery.
Comments
I was able to move around freely this year and experienced all that I didn't, last year. People who hadn't visited it have missed something great. They should do it next year, particularly, children. Its a typical village thiruvizha.
Even the Rain Gods smiled on us on Thursday and Friday of the Fest - showering their blessings only after our events were over!
The weekend was bathed in the warm January sunshine.
The Fest has become stronger, than larger shall we say.
Volunteers were many ( 24 this time - from 60 year olds to 20 somethings; one girl enjoyed her assignment so much that she is keen to sign up for a Fest related job!)
Resource people are willing . . .
Ashwin Prabhu, diehard quizzer and diehard Mylaporean, constructed the MYLAPORE QUIZ and was QM too. And the city's best quizzers landed up for what is the first quiz in the calendar. V V Ramanan and his partner won it!
Young people are streaming in . . .
And that is a great boost to us. The Treasure Hunt, a first, had more than 80 teams of three and almost all were made up of young people. It was nice to see young people cycle around the area and get to know it better. The boys from Venugopal Vidyalaya who got the second prize said they enjoyed the hunt.
We are now working on a Sound and Light show on Mylapore. Launch it for Madras Day and have it run thro Mylapore Fest 2009!