Malayalee Indians (MIND), Ireland is a voluntary community organisation established in February 2008 with a view to provide a platform for Malayalam speaking Indians in Dublin and to promote the rich culture, heritage and tradition of Malayalees (natives of Kerala, South India) in the larger Dublin area. We are also keen in promoting active citizenship and integrating with the mainstream community.

To this effect we organise various activities round the year, including cricket tournament, badminton tournament, family tour, kid’s competitions, celebration of Thiruvonam (regional festival), Christmas and New Year.
We are planning a two day MIND Kids Festival on April 6th and 7th. The age groups are: Sub-Juniors – upto 7 years; Juniors – 7 years to 11 years; Seniors 11 years to 18 years. We have more than 15 different competitions in all from storytelling, essay writing, elocution to performance arts like group dance, Irish dance, instrumental music, singing etc. The venue is Scoil Mhuire Boys National School, Griffith Avenue, Marino, Dublin 9. More than 150 children participate each year.

We have three judges and panellists who will be there when the kids perform and they will score the contestants. We have a set Judging criteria, which will be published on our website on 21st March and the contestants will be scored based on the criteria. For Dance competitions, we are planning to bring experts in the field from abroad, who has won national awards and accolades. The winners of the dance competitions are usually part of IDF Team Ireland and can perform in the International Dance Federation – World Championships. This year’s winners will be participating in the next year IDF World Championships.

The topics for the essay writing will be given on the spot, whereas, the topics for elocution will be published on our website on the 31st March. Since last year, we are giving away ‘MIND ICON’ (Senior / Junior) special awards for all round performance.
There is online registration for participation in the competitions. 30th March will be the last date to register. We would know the number of contestants and will arrange their performance accordingly. The essay writing, colouring, pencil drawing etc. will be done in different class rooms and all performance arts – dance, elocution, music instruments will be held on the stage.