The crisp brightness of a new suit on its first wear. The abundant colour and bounty of a full harvest. And a table large enough to share, always with room for one more.
The south Indian state Kerala's annual harvest festival - marking the Malayali community's new year - was rung in on Saturday, August 29, to the staccato beat of innumerable Chenda drums, dance and kaleidoscopic colour.
Hundreds of Hunter's Kerala and Malayali community gathered at Jesmond at the weekend to feast and celebrate the turning season in an all-day cultural party staged by the Humsam Malayalam Association of Newcastle.
The traditional harvest and floral festival marks the turning point on the cultural calendar, celebrating the bounty of the passing the season and the promise of the new.
It is the time of year when new outfits are made to measure and families and neighbours join in an immense communal feast of fresh produce and traditional recipes.
"It is about coming in with a refresh," Jinu Erapurathu, the president of the Hunter's not-for-profit Malayali community organisation said.
"It is about culture and community and unity. We share everything."
Mr Erapurathu and the team of association members - all dressed in stunning purple at the weekend - were busy with activity. Meals were prepared for some 800 families and friends, served in a bounty on banana leaves from a seemingly endless supply.
In the afternoon, the Chenda drummed the gathering to the main hall of Heaton Public School at Jesmond where a procession of legendary kings and religious figures from Indian culture marked the season.
Mr Erapurathu and the festival's organisers had been preparing for months.
The Malayali community of Newcastle began as a small and informal group, the association said, but has grown in the past 50 years. The community organisation comprises about 700 members.
Onam is a 10-day cultural festival, and the national festival of Keralam. It is traditionally associated with the legend of Asura King Mahabali - a venerated figure in Kerala heritage - who returned annually to visit his people.
