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The celebrations begin within a fortnight of the Malayalam New Year and go on for ten days. The
 last day called the Thiruonam is the most important. All over the state, rituals along with new clothes, traditional cuisine, dance, and music mark this harvest festival.
One of the highlights of traditional Onam festivities is the aththa-poo, an auspicious floral decoration that is made in the compound of the house. Usually circular in shape, it is often multi-tiered, and up to four or five meters across. It is decorated with leaves, flowers and petals of different kinds. A flower is dedicated to each day of Onam, and predominates the decorations.
 At Trichur (Thrissur), caparisoned elephants take part in a spectacular procession. A magnificent
display of fireworks marks the end of the festivities here. At Cheruthuruthy, appreciative crowds gather on the green, where the Kathakali dancers, resplendent in their brilliant costumes, re-enact the well-loved stories of the epic heroes and virtuous women. Pulikali, also known as Kaduvakali is a common sight during Onam season. Performers painted like tigers in bright yellow, red and black, dance to the beats of instruments like udukku and
thakil.
The Vallamkali (boat race) is one of the main attractions of Onam, and is best seen at
 Aranmulai and Kottayam.
Though the snake boat races are purely for fun there are rituals connected to the snake boats. Tradition demands that a Nambudiri Brahmin be at the main rudder oar, which is about 12 feet long. There are four main oarsmen who control the movement of the boat. In the old days the villagers used to sit in the boat in order of their castes but today the order is changing though a certain pattern can still be distinguished. Everyone–the carpenter, the barber, the goldsmith, the blacksmith as well as the agricultural laborers–all have a place on the boat.
Each snake boat belongs to a village along the banks of the river Pampa and is worshipped like a deity. Every year the boat is oiled mainly with fish oil, coconut shell, and carbon, mixed with eggs to keep the wood strong and the boat slippery in the water. The village carpenter carries out annual repairs lovingly and people take pride in their boat, which represents their village and is named after it.
In the evening girls perform the Kaikottikkali (Thiruvathirakkali ) in the open, dancing around the traditional brass lamp.
Onam
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