On a day that saw sparkling contests in a wide array of popular arts, including Kuchipudi, Oppana, Folk Dance and Kolkali, reigning champion Kozhikode maintained its lead in the State School Art Festival in the race for the coveted gold cup.
On Thursday night, Kozhikode had 580 points, while the second-placed Palakkad had 565. In third place was Thrissur, with 562 points, followed by host Malappuram 554, Ernakulam (545), Kannur (534), Thiruvananthapuram (520), and Kottayam (518).
Biggest crowd
The biggest crowd of day four was again at the main venue of MSP Parade Ground, which hosted Folk Dance (High School girls), Kuchipudi (Higher Secondary School girls), and Oppana, easily Malappuram’s most favoured art form of the festival. The Oppana contest in the HS section had run into the morning hours of Thursday (it was watched by roughly 30,000) and the crowd was back to see the senior girls in action later in the night.
Drama fans
Not surprisingly, Kolkali, another Malappuram favourite, too drew a huge crowd at Kottappadi Ground, while Municipal Town Hall could not accommodate the large number of drama fans. Mappilapattu, which also has many fans in Malabar, was a hit at Rose Lounge Auditorium.
The day also saw stiff competitions in Keralanadanam, Poorakkali, Margamkali, Ottanthullal, Chakyarkooth, Classical Music, Recitation, Elocution, and Violin.
There was big rush yet again for the ‘sadya’ at the dining hall, where 22,000 lunched. The food committee though had to drop a couple of items from the menu because of lack of fund. “We however could serve ‘payasam,’ which we had feared we would not be able to last night,” said P. Parameswarn, food committee convener. “But Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb visited us at the dining hall and promised to solve the financial crisis.”
