Thirteen families in Weyburn took the time to celebrate their annual harvest festival known as Onam.

All of the families come from the state of Kerala in India where the Onam festival is observed once a year in the month of Chingam, which is the first month according to the Malayalam Calendar.

The celebrations mark the Malayalam New Year, are spread over ten days, and conclude with Thiruvonam. The ten days are sequentially known as Atham, Chithira, Chodhi, Vishakam, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradam, and Thiruvonam.

"Onam is the national celebration of Keralites and it is the harvest festival that marks the homecoming of mythical King Mahabali," shared Joemon Mathew, one of the organizers of this year's event in Weyburn. "Mahabali's rule in the prehistoric era is considered the Golden Era of Kerala. The name Mahabali itself means 'great sacrifice.' Mahabali fulfilled his name as the great martyr for the sake of truth."

The Onam Festival began on Thursday, August 12 this year and ran until Monday, August 23, and featured various different celebrations every day of the event.

Throughout the celebration, there are many different traditions such as the clothing that the men, women, and children wear.

The women will wear a white and gold saree called the Kasavu, there are different dance performances that take place, drawing flower rangolis called pookkalam, and traditional feasts called sadya are served on banana leaves during Onam.

According to Vaishnava mythology, King Mahabali defeated the Gods and began ruling over all three worlds. King Mahabali was a demon king who belonged to the Asura tribe. The Gods became insecure of King Mahabali’s popularity and Lord Vishnu had to step in to help contain Mahabali.

You can listen to Mathew explain more of the history of the Onam Festival in the audio file below.

"We invited Mayor Marcel Roy to inaugurate this function because we like this city very much," Mathew told. "They accepted us and Mayor Marcel Roy was happy to come over."

Mathew explained that the children will play games together during the Onam Festival and said that they even received a number of prizes from local businesses.

This was their 10th year celebrating the event in Weyburn and they hope to see more people join them at the 11th get-together next year.

This year's Onam Harvest Festival was held at the Weyburn Free Methodist Church and the event encouraged all religions within the community to come together.