Vypeen Folklore Festival presents a cultural pot-pourri

Host of events being organised across the island during month-long fete

Scraping clean the highway-facing mildewed wall of the out-of-use Sujatha theatre in Elamkunnapuzha on the Vypeen island, a group of artists are drawing outlines along which some others are applying long handle paint rollers.

The graffiti that’s taking shape is a contemporary style pot-pourri of Kerala’s folk performing arts along with the environs of the island endowed with mangroves, fish, outstretched beaches, the birds of the region and a vast sky. “We are just seamlessly blending them all in this graffiti,” says Manu Mohan Pallivathukkal, who’s leading a team of artists who’re creating 75 such street art pieces across the island.

The month-long Vypeen Folklore Festival, which has been been under way for over a fortnight now, uses the island’s natural beauty from a tourism point of view. It's cultural vistas and sprawling beaches such as the ones in Kuzhuppilly, Cherai, Valappu, Elamkunnapuzha, and Munambam come alive during the fest, says K.N. Unnikrishnan, MLA, and the force behind the festival.