Each year on the second Saturday of August thousands of tourists from all over India flock down to southern Kerala to see gigantic boats, manned by 120+ oarsmen, compete for the Nehru Trophy. It started off as a small competition between villagers, but has developed into a wild celebration full of singing, dancing and drinking.

We found ourself hemmed in between dozens of ships teeming with spectators (almost all male) for a long day of waterside fun. Enjoy the pictures and if you do, you can find lots more on my webalbum.

Villagers rowing their boat to the start

A boat of the largest class turning in the canal

Two helmsmen trying to keep the boat going straight

A sea of houseboats lines the finish

The party begins next door with strangely Gypsy-sounding tunes

A boat sinks during a qualification run

Kids watching the race (and me) from the water

The crowd gets livelier as the day goes by

Highly targeted advertising for the male onlookers

One of the finals

Too much alcohol for this one. He kept trying to take his clothes off, but the medic is restraining him :-)

As soon as the race finished, everyone scrambled