Festive spirit in the city reached a fever pitch on Wednesday as Kochiites ventured out to buy last-minute gifts and Christmas merchandise.
The roads that usually have a rallying mass of men on bikes, speeding buses and luxury cars for most times, appeared all the more choked.
The diversion of traffic here and there gave little relief.
Rush at mallsShopkeepers regaled in selling wares that crowds crave while the demand for special Christmas cakes and pastries shot up considerably compared with the previous years.
The rush at the shopping malls as also at places like Broadway and elsewhere showed that the people loved shopping till dusk and beyond.
Meat and fish stalls were among the busy outlets. At all points, chicken took the prime place among the delicacies on offer to mark the special occasion, as against Kuttanadan ducks last year. Chicken prices shot up from Rs.80 last week to Rs.100 on Wednesday.
Readymade cribs were priced between Rs.200 and Rs.750, while clay figurines were available as sets in various sizes from Rs.100 to Rs.500.
Shopping apart, the city is also hosting a handful of events for merrymaking including Bharatheeyam by the Greater Cochin Development Authority and Vasantholsavam by the district administration. The district administration’s offering comes in the form of cultural programmes at the Durbar Hall ground.