The Keralites (people of Kerala) celebrate all religious and contemporary fairs and festivals in their own way. Onam is their most favorite festival that indicates the harvest season in the months of August - September. There is also a host of several festivals which are associated with boat race. A list of important fairs and festivals celebrated in Kerala is given below.

Onam
Onam is one of the greatest festivals of Kerala. It is the festival, which the keralites celebrate untidily without the difference of caste and religion. Onam is a time for sports and festivities and in Kerala where one third of the area is low lying, covered with canals, lakes and backwaters; the people take to their boats and country crafts to celebrate.

Kerala Village Fair
Mid January is the time for cultural events in the lush villages around Kovalam every year. Traditional thatched houses are decorated during this ten-day long festival and are the venue for folk dances, music and festivities.

Vishu
Vishu is one of the important festivals of Kerala. It comes in the month of April usually on the 14th April. According to the traditional Malayalam calendar, it is the 1st day of the first month Medam of the New Year. Traditional rituals are followed to bring in another year of prosperity.

Champakkulam Boat Race
Kerala, with its winding stretches of backwaters, is famous for its native boat races held in different parts of the State in the harvest season. The Champakulam boat race, held on July 2 this year, is the first one during this season and has a tradition of centuries.

Nehru Trophy Boat Race
This boat race is held on the second Saturday of August every year at Alappuzha. The long elegant snake boats, with crews of over hundred men vying to win the coveted trophy, attract spectators from all over the world.

Thrissur Pooram
Pooram is the most colourful of all temple festivals celebrated in Kerala. It is celebrated in Thrissur at Vadakkumnathan temple in the month of Medam (April) where the regaining deity is Lord Shiva. It attracts devotees from all over India.

Makaravillakku
Makara Vilakku is an important festival celebrated in the famous Ayappa Temple at Sabarimala. The Puja begins from the day of Makara Sankranti, the first day of the Malayalese month of Makaram and continues for seven days. This day commemorates the day on which the idol of Lord Ayappa was enshrined in the temple. The main attraction of this festival is the bringing of deity's jewellery, Thirivabharanam from the Pandalam Palace to the temple in a royal procession.

Christmas
Christmas is the most important festival for Christians living in Kerala. People decorate their houses, erect Christmas trees, and make cribs with figures of baby Jesus, Mother Mary, Joseph, the three kings who come to visit the baby and shepherd boys and their herds grazing around depicting the scenes of Jesus's Birth in the Bible.