The fourth day of the Calicut University Inter-zone Arts Festival was more or less dedicated to music, with four stages hosting music events for the major part of the day.
Young talents tested their vocal skills in the light music competition on stage one followed by folk orchestra and ‘ganamela,’ all of which were crowd-pullers.
The folk orchestra competition featured colourful stage settings that reminded one of a temple festival. Naga idols, ‘thulasi thara’, colourful flags and flashy costumes in combinations of red, yellow, white and black, set the stage ablaze along with rhythmic folk numbers.
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Most of the teams used traditional percussion instruments such as thudi, chenda, thakil and even thick bamboo shoots, while a team or two appeared with the ‘pulluvan veena.’ There was a huge crowd at the venue of the ganamela competition too.
Mappila arts such as mappilappattu, kolkkali, and daff muttu were on stage two. On stage three, Western group, solo, jazz drum, and triple drum competitions were held till evening.
Western music and folk orchestra, staged in nearby venues, with both overlapping at times, provided for an interesting contrast. On stage four, instrumental music ruled, with students displaying their talents in percussion, string and wind instruments in both Western and Eastern genres.
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A ‘pookkalam’ competition was also held on Thursday.
By evening, stage one was opened for Sanskrit and Malayalam drama while from stage two and three the sounds of ‘chilanka’ were heard again. Most enthusiasts found it difficult to choose between group dance on stage two and folk dance on stage 3.
The folk dance competitions were followed by Kathakali single and group on stage 3.
The race to the overall championship is getting stronger. After the results of 39 off-stage and 34 on-stage events were out, St. Joseph’s College, Devagiri, is leading with 85 points. Farook College is next with 50 points while Government Victoria College, Palakkad, is closely following with 47 points.
The major events to be held at the festival on Friday include oppana, mimicry, mono-act, kathaprasangam, classical music and semi classical vocal. The festival will conclude on Friday.