THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is that time of the year when schools get ready to prove their mettle by competing in inter-school festivals. LA Fest, the biggest inter-school competition in the city in terms of number, is to be hosted by Loyola School, Sreekariyam on Saturday. With the innovative use of social media to promote their fest, the ‘Loyolites’ have certainly created a hype among high school students.
The 19th LA Fest has 19 schools competing and over 1,200 participants are expected to be present. Started in 1996 with just 10 schools taking part, this competition has only grown over the years.
LA Fest, which stands for ‘Life and Arts Fest,’ is to be inaugurated by B D Dathan, renowned artist and former executive member of Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, at 8 am.
Seven events, which include various categories such as group song, dance and photography contests and quiz, will be held from 8 am to 6 pm. At the end of the day, a power-packed performance by Thaikkudam Bridge, makers of ‘fish rock’ and ‘nostalgia’, is set to mark the end of the competitions.
New and inventive ways of creating a buzz seems to be the goal of inter-school fests these days. LA Fest is no different. Owing to this, the multimedia teams are at the forefront with website development and other inventive methods of creating publicity keeping them busy.
A ‘Happy video’ released on YouTube on May 24 in response to the latest trend has been viewed 17,500 times till date. Though the video is not entirely about the fest and covers most of the major attractions in the city, the spotlight falls on Loyola towards the end of the video.
Another innovative method of attracting attention was through the LA Fest game. Released on May 22 for android users, it has seen around 500 downloads. This seemed to create the right amount of enthusiasm as to what LA Fest has in store this year.
“The passion for the fest would never die. There is so much in that fest. Our sweat, blood, energy and money is in it. I love it. I love to help the boys organise it. I love every bit of LA Fest,” says Bharath Ajith Sreenivasan, an ex-Loyolite, who has helped in organising LA Fest since 2011.