Students from Little Flower GHS, Malappuram, performing a group dance at the Kerala State School Arts Festival in Thrissur on Wednesday. | Photo credit: KK Mustafah
They came and took the stage. One after another.
The light music competition for high school girls lived up to its reputation. There were some excellent performances at Vivekodayam BHSS on the opening day of the 64th State School Arts Festival.
The event, whose previous winners include KS Chithra, Sujatha, Minmini and Arundhathi, was indeed one of the highlights of the first day of the festival with around 14,000 participants. While many music lovers flocked to the open-air venue, much larger crowds turned out for glamorous events across the city.
After Chief Minister Pinaryai Vijayan inaugurated the festival, the main venue at Thekkinkadu Maidan, in the presence of General Education Minister V. Sivankutty, Revenue Minister K. Rajan, Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty, Higher Education Minister R. Bindu, Archeology Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran, MP and Gogopikaly, former MP Kadannappally Ramachandran, MP Goapihaha football captain IM Vijayan saw Mohiniyattam (HS) and group dance (HS) which unsurprisingly attracted huge crowd. Few events could rival the spectacle and creativity one sees in a group dance.
The Chief Minister said that art should be the religion of artists. “The growth of the state school art festival as the largest in Asia is a testament to the power of education in Kerala,” he said. “The changes that have taken place at the State School Festival over seven decades have been amazing.”
The inaugural day witnessed a wide variety of art forms to delight art lovers at venues spread across the city. Mime, Bharatanatyam, Paniya Dance, Ottanthullal, Chakyar Koothu, Arabana Muttu, Guitar, Sanskrit Drama, Kerala Nadanam, Mappila Pattu and English Recitation were among the competitions on Wednesday.
The race for the Gold Cup – given to the district champions – is already underway. Kozhikode and Kannur took an early lead but were closely followed by hosts Thrissur and Palakkad.
Feeding thousands of participants and officials is also a miracle at the festival. There were about 18,000 for lunch. “We served food until 4 p.m.,” said food committee chairman Saju George. “Even those who came very late got food.
Published – 15 Jan 2026 0:31 IST
