UDHAGAMANDALAM: Thousands of tourists thronged the Nehru Park in Kotagiri as the summer festival in the Nilgiris kicked off with the inauguration of the vegetable show on Saturday.
This will be the ninth iteration of the vegetable show that began in 2008, and the two-day festival will continue till Sunday.
The main draws of the show were a “capsicum ship,” made from more than 1,500 kg of capsicum in three different colours.
The exhibit, which was 25-feet-long, 6-feet wide and 12-feet in height, attracted tourists from both within Tamil Nadu and also from other states.
Another exhibit, made using more than 500 kg of zucchini, built to resemble a 1-foot-high lighthouse was also a major draw.
Stalls from Horticulture Departments in 10 districts also exhibited a variety of vegetable sculptures, including those that resembled a multitude of animals and birds, each with a very unique message.
For instance, sculptures from the Horticulture Department in Madurai featured an exhibit in support of the bull-taming sport of jallikattu.
Speaking to The Hindu, N. Mani, Joint Director of Horticulture, Nilgiris District, said that organic farming methods were also promoted at the show, with stalls being put up by a few NGOs. More than three tonnes of vegetables were used to construct the exhibits that were on show, officials stated.
