THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Manaveeyam Veedhi, the cultural corridor in the city, will host street book festival from February 8 to 12. The festival which is being organised by the Corporation will have 30 book stalls from different publishers on either side of the road, a space for cultural performance, cafeteria etc.
Terming it a first such initiative by a corporation, Mayor V K Prasanth said the fest will cement Manaveeyam as the cultural hub in the city.
The five-day event will have a host of cultural programmes from mural paintings to drama performance. The participation of artists, poets, playwrights, magicians etc will make the event a lively one. Cultural meeting on the inaugural day will have the presence of poets Sugathakumari, V Madhusoodhanan Nair and Prabha Varma. Theruvukoothu, a Dravidian art, will go on stage in the night.
Discussions will be held by eminent personalities in the field of media, literature, film and culture. Commemorative evenings dedicated to late poets like Vinayachandran, O N V Kurup will be held on February 11 and 12 respectively. Another interesting feature of the fest is training for women in cycling and the transgender fest.
One of the stalls will showcase the waste management initiatives of the local body. Mayor said there has been a good demand from publishers to book stalls. Seven more stalls remain vacant. Those interested can log on to www.manaveeyambookfest.com to book the stall.
The Mayor will inaugurate the stalls on February 8 at 10 am. On the same day, the Minister for Culture A K Balan will formally inaugurate the festival in the evening. The festival will be open from 9 am to 9 pm. Finance Minister Thomas Isaac will inaugurate the concluding ceremony on February 12.