The crowd must have been around 15,000. But there was a complete silence when K.S. Chithra began singing the light song Odakkuzhale odakkuzhale during the closing ceremony of the 61st State School Arts Festival at the Captain Vikram Maidan on Saturday.
One could not have hoped for a better way to bring the curtain down on a remarkable festival. Chithra may have sung only a few lines of the song, and that too without any background music, but she enchanted an adoring audience, who gave her the loudest applause. And this was the song that fetched Chithra the first place at the State School Arts Festival in Thrissur in 1978.
A little later, it was time to crown the champion district. The host Kozhikode won the Gold Cup, scoring 945 points. Kozhikode last held the overall title in 2018.
Palakkad, the champion in the last two editions, had to settle for the second place, with 925 points. The prize for the best school, however, was bagged by a school from Palakkad – B.S.S. Gurukulam HSS (Alathur), which contributed 156 points to the district.
Akshara Krishnan R.S of St. Gregorios HSS, Kottarakkara, Kollam, who bagged A-grade in Nadodi Nritham (HSS- girls) at the State School Arts festival in Kozhikode on Saturday. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
General Education Minster V. Sivankutty said the State government would try to contact the authorities concerned to stake claim about the school festival being the world’s largest. He said the government would also make efforts to ensure that the talented artistes emerging from the festival remain in art.
The closing ceremony was attended, among others, by Minister for Tourism and Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Vinduja Menon, actress and former winner at the State School Festival.
Before the ceremony, a few events were held. The biggest attraction was folk sance (girls), which was held simultaneously in two venues – Capt. Vikram Maidan and the Zamorin’s HSS Ground. There was a massive crowd for the competition for the HSS students at the main venue. Many of them danced rather well, too. But, unfortunately, there were far too many songs that spoke only of miseries.
A huge crowd that turned out at the main venue on the last day of the State School Arts Festival in Kozhikode on Saturday. | Photo Credit: K Ragesh
The festival, however, has given the city and the State much joy – especially after the pains of a pandemic.
