Giant pineapple a huge draw at Nilgiris summer festival’s 63rd annual fruit show

The other major exhibits, at the show held in Coonoor, included a Malabar giant squirrel, an earthworm and a fruit basket; the show is on until Sunday, May 28

One of the main attraction at the 63rd annual fruit show, a giant pineapple | Photo Credit: M. Sathyamoorthy

The 63^rd annual fruit show, the final major event of the Nilgiris summer festival season, was inaugurated at Sims Park in Coonoor on Saturday.

The main draw of the event was a giant pineapple, made up of smaller pineapples. A total of 1.2 tonnes of pineapples were used to create the fruit exhibit, with the other major draws being an enormous Malabar giant squirrel exhibit made up of different kinds of grapes, a giant fruit basket and an earthworm. A huge fruit exhibit aimed at helping to spread the use of the reusable manjappai was also exhibited.

The Malabar giant squirrel exhibit at the fruit show | Photo Credit: M. Sathyamoorthy

Stalls with fruit produce from across the State were also exhibited to the thousands of visitors who streamed into the Sims Park in Coonoor.

The summer festival season began on May 6 with the 12^th annual vegetable show, followed by the spice show in Gudalur, rose show at the Government Rose Garden in Ooty and the 125^th annual flower show at the Government Botanical Garden.

An earthworm exhibit at the 63rd annual fruit show | Photo Credit: M. Sathyamoorthy

The event was inaugurated by the Nilgiris MP, A. Raja, State Tourism Minister K. Ramachandran and district Collector S.P. Amrith. The fruit show will continue on Sunday too.

Traffic congestion was reported inside Udhagamandalam and Coonoor towns, as well as along the Coonoor Road. With the conclusion of the fruit show on Sunday, the major events of the summer festival season will come to an end in the Nilgiris.