THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second day of the 63rd school arts festival concluded on a smooth note, with only minor delays reported from the venues. Among the competing districts, Kannur is leading, with Thrissur and Kozhikode placed in second and third spots respectively.
The number of appeals were also less, according to the organisers. While events such as drama witnessed huge audience turnout, venues of traditional art forms such as chakyarkooth wore a deserted look.
According to General Education Minister V Sivankutty, most of the events scheduled to begin at 9.30am could begin well before 10am. Tagore Theatre, the venue of the drama competitions was packed with spectators. Nishagandhi Auditorium (Kabani), where tribal dance competitions were held also had good audience turnout.
The July 2024 landslides in Wayanad was a recurring theme at the Arabic recitation competition (high school) for girls. The contestants portrayed the intensity of the natural calamity and the physical and mental agony it caused to the local people. A total of 14 contestants participated and all secured A grade.
The third day of the arts fete has a variety of events lined up, including dance forms such as kuchipudi and thiruvathira kali and crowd-puller items such as mimicry and mono act. The kuchipudi competition for higher secondary girls will begin at 9am at Central Stadium (MT-Nila), the main venue of the fete. At 2pm, thiruvathira competition for high school students will be held at the same venue.
St Joseph’s HSS (Bhavani Nadi) is expected to draw huge crowds, with the mimicry competition for higher secondary boys and girls to be held at 9.30am and 12 noon respectively. The venue will also host Vrindavadyam (higher secondary) at 3pm.