Published on June 24th, 2016 | by Kayak Session

Malabar River Festival 2016 Crowdsourcing

A short video for crowdfunding The Malabar River Festival 2016 July 29th/31st – A Kayaking event that happens every year in Kerala (India).

« We rise by lifting others »

I’m Manik Taneja, a software architect and a white-water kayak instructor by profession. I, along with my partner Jacopo Nordera are the organizers of the Malabar River Festival, a white-water kayaking festival held in Kerala for the last 3-years. We have had tremendous amount of success, attractIng the world’s best athletes to compete and planting the seeds of a whole new industry centered around paddle-sports in this part of Kerala. In the past the district administration has supported this festival, but have failed to pay some of the local vendors and have not released the prize money for the winners of last year’s festival. This threatens the very existence of the festival and therefore this year we need your help to make this beautiful festival happen. Please watch this video below, contribute and help keep the dream alive.

>>> Contribute Here

By Manik Taneja & Jacopo Nordera, Malabar River Festival organizers.

How can you help?

There are many problems that plague us today and the biggest being the apathy of most state governments that make it hard for kayakers to paddle in free flowing rivers. Availability of good quality equipment and kayak instruction is also a factor that hinders the development of this sport in the country.

As White Water Kayaking gains more popularity with events like the Malabar River Festival, we will see state governments adopting a friendlier attitude towards white water kayakers. This will encourage greater participation in the sport and very soon India will boast of a bunch of kayakers that are ready to take on the world’s best paddlers.

Despite our best efforts, the prize money allocated by the government of Kerala for the winners of MRF 2015, have not yet been released. After all their hard work, we need to ensure that our winners get their due and are well aware that this pending prize money would be of great support to them.

Kayaking is an adventure sport that is just beginning to capture the attention of people world over and it would be a shame to not continue hosting Asia’s largest whitewater kayaking festival this year. We need your help to make this a reality.

>>> Contribute Here

Invitation:

Since 2012, the Malabar River Festival hosted in Kodencherry, Kerala has been showcasing the very best of the International paddling community. Support us and join us for this year’s edition – you’ll be inspired to explore more rivers, push extremes, embrace the paddling lifestyle and appreciate the beautiful landscape that Kerala has to offer.

Proposed Budget for the festival

Prize Money	400000
Wooden Ramp	100000
Hospitality	100000
Competition Material	20000
Timing System	50000
Transportation	50000
Food & Water	50000
Banners & Publicity	30000
Website	10000
Art Design	20000
T-shirts and Race Bibs	120000