Food Festivals & Food Events in Trivandrum

Food events in Trivandrum come in four kinds, and the listings below are updated daily with all of them. The biggest are the fairs on public grounds: food festivals on the Kanakakunnu Palace lawns and at Putharikandam Maidanam, often run by Kudumbashree women's groups and government departments, where stalls from every district sell regional dishes for modest prices during Onam week and the year-end holidays. The second kind is the hotel food festival, a week or ten days of Malabar, Kuttanad, Arabian or coastal menus at five-star properties in the city and at Kovalam, usually as a dinner buffet. Third is the festive meal: Onasadya on banana leaves around Thiruvonam, Vishu sadya in April, Christmas cake fairs and Ramadan evening spreads around Palayam. And through the year there are classes and tastings, from the baking and cooking studios in Kumarapuram to coffee and chocolate workshops in cafes. For everyday eating, locals send visitors to the old restaurants around Chalai and Palayam for fried chicken, biryani and parotta, and to the spiral Indian Coffee House at Thampanoor designed by Laurie Baker. Evening food stalls gather at Shanghumugham Beach and on Manaveeyam Veedhi. Check each listing for dates, prices and whether booking is needed.