Voyager Trophy Boat Race – A First For Tourists
A snake boat race for the pleasure of tourists! Yes, that’s what Regent Seven Seas Cruises of Florida is planning on the famed Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha. It will be the first time in the history of Kerala’s boat racing legends that snake boat races will be conducted exclusively for tourists. Nehru Trophy winner of the year, Champakkulam Chundan, too, will take part in it. Although there is no restriction on the viewership, the main crowd will consist of more than 600 tourists from the Seven Seas Voyager, which will come to Kerala on November 4, after visiting Dubai and other Middle Eastern ports.
The Voyager Trophy Boat Race which took shape after the holidayers’s request to watch a boat race similar to the Nehru Trophy Boat Race, will take place on November 4, from 9 30 a.m. to 11 30 a.m. Alappuzha District Tourism Promotion Council, which is co-organising the race, plans to rope in artistes of traditional Kerala art forms and percussion events.
Every year thousands of Malayalees and tourists gather in the months of July, August and September to watch a hoard of big and small boat races on the Vembanad Lake and the Punnamada Lake.
Though Nehru Boat Race at Alleppey is the most famous and most grand, there are several other races in different parts of Kerala. It can get crazy but worth all the trouble.