25 venues in Thiruvananthapuram for State School Arts Festival

Tribal art forms such as Mangalamkali, Malapulayattam, Irula dance, Paliya dance, and Paniya dance will be included as competition events in this year’s State School Arts Festival to be held in the State capital in January.

Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty, who inaugurated a meeting for constituting the welcome committee for the festival here on Tuesday, said the event would add to the cultural wealth of the city.

The capital city will host the festival for the first time since 2016. It will be held from January 4 to 8 at 25 venues in the city. Prominent among these are the Putharikandam grounds, Ayyankali hall, Nishagandhi auditorium, Tagore theatre, SMV School, and Model school. Nearly 15,000 students will participate in 249 competitive events. These include 101 in the high school category, 110 in the high school category, and 19 each in Arabic and Sanskrit arts festivals.

The State-level festival is being held after completion of school, sub-district, and district-level festivals. Each student will be able to participate in three individual events and two group events. They must be winners at the school level and have secured A grade in sub-district and district-level events.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are the main patrons of the arts festival organising committee. The welcome committee will have Minister for Food and Civil Supplies G.R. Anil as the organising committee chairperson and Director of General Education Jeevan Babu K. as general coordinator. Nineteen subcommittees will also function.