Kerala Folklore Festival

About this event

The Kerala Folklore Festival is a Kerala Tourism cultural initiative presenting the state’s traditional and folk performing arts across venues in Kerala. Organised as a seven-day festival, Utsavam brings together artists representing a wide range of folk traditions and provides audiences with an opportunity to experience the cultural expressions of different regions and communities of the state. The programme has featured numerous traditional art forms, including ritual performances, folk dances, music, theatre and other indigenous performance traditions. Rather than being confined to a single venue or identified specifically with the Kerala Folklore Museum in Thevara, the festival has been conducted across multiple locations in Kerala, with Ernakulam among the districts included in its programme. The festival’s central purpose is the preservation and promotion of Kerala’s intangible cultural heritage by providing traditional artists with platforms to perform before wider audiences. It also helps introduce younger generations and visitors to art forms that are closely connected with the customs, beliefs, histories and social life of different communities. Kerala’s folk traditions encompass a remarkable variety of performance styles, ranging from ritual arts such as Theyyam and Padayani to folk dances, musical traditions and community-based theatrical forms. Kerala Tourism and the Kerala Folklore Academy have played important roles in promoting and documenting these traditions, while festivals such as Utsavam bring performances from different parts of the state together in a public cultural programme. The Kerala Folklore Museum at Thevara in Ernakulam is a separate cultural attraction dedicated to Kerala’s traditional architecture, art and material heritage, with collections of sculptures, masks, musical instruments, costumes and other objects associated with the state’s artistic traditions. It should not be treated as the permanent venue of Utsavam. The festival therefore offers a broader statewide perspective on Kerala’s living folk culture rather than representing a single museum-based event. Its emphasis on traditional artists, regional diversity and live performance makes it an important initiative for sustaining awareness of Kerala’s folk heritage. Specific editions, venues and dates vary, and the latest official programme should be checked before publication or attendance

🚆 Railway: Ernakulam Junction — approximately 5 km from Kerala Folklore Museum. Ernakulam Town (North) is about 7 km.

✈️ Airport: Cochin International Airport — approximately 34 km.

🚌 Bus: Thevara Ferry Junction — a short walk from the museum. Thevara Junction bus stop on MG Road is about 2 km.

🏨 Stay: Crowne Plaza Kochi; Hotel Abad Plaza; Olive Downtown

✅ Notes: This pin is Kerala Folklore Museum at Thevara Ferry Junction, Kochi, a private museum opened in 2009, with three floors of Malabar, Kochi, and Travancore woodwork and displays of Theyyam and Kathakali costumes. It is not the Kerala International Folk Festival at Thycaud, and not the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode. Published hours and ticket prices do not agree, and a 2012 Kerala Tourism note of a 6:30 pm show should be checked with the museum before a visit.