The event which is hosted every year in the memory of the visit of first Prime Minister of India, late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1952 to this place.

Nehru Trophy Boat Race is the most famous of the boat races of Kerala and is held on the Punnamada Backwaters of Alappuzha district on the second Saturday of August. The spectacular race features magnificent snake boats or 'Chundans'. The boisterous and rhythmic boat songs or Vanchipattu work the spectators to a state of frenzy.