ALAPPUZHA: Palakkad district emerged victorious in the 59th edition of Kerala State School fest, putting an end to the winning streak of defending champion Kozhikode which had won the title for 12 consecutive years. Palakkad district wrested the overall championship title by securing 932 points in the fest which concluded here on Sunday midnight. Kozhikode amassed a total of 929 points.
Even though Kozhikode district put up a neck-and-neck fight with Palakkad during the entire festival, which was stretched up to early Monday morning, the last-minute victories helped Palakkad bag the overall title. Though the Kozhikode district led the point table from the top till last hours, the final results of Margamkali, Yakshaganam, Poorakkali helped Palakkad emerge as winners.
Thrissur, last year’s host, secured 905 points, followed by Kannur and Malappuram, which secured 903 and 899 points, respectively. Malappuram was in the third position last year, but was relegated to fifth place. Like in the previous years, the festival was a disappointment for Alappuzha and Ernakulam, for, they never posed any threat to other districts d uring the three-day-long fest. However, Ernakulam district maintained a lead in the Sanskrit fest with 90 points.
Though the government had reduced the number of days of the fest from five to three owing to fund crunch, it didn’t take the shine off the event. This is the third victory for Palakkad; they won the first title during the 2006 festival held in Ernakulam, and shared the title in 2015 with Kozhikkode. The 60th state fest is scheduled to be held in Kasargod next year.
SCORECARD
1 Palakkad- 932
2 Kozhikode- 929
3 Thrissur- 905
4 Kannur- 903
5 Malappuram- 899
6 Ernakulam- 888
7 Alappuzha- 872
8 Thiruvananthapuram-864
9 Kollam-863
10 Kasargod- 843
11 Wayanad- 836
12 Kottayam- 831
13 Pathanamthitta-772
14 Idukki- 706