THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The four-day-long revenue district school arts festival concluded on Friday with Thiruvananthapuram North winning the overall championship.
The team, which initially stood fourth on the scoreboard, came ahead on the final day with stellar performances in dance categories, securing 885 points.
Students of Pattom Model Girls’ School played a major role in North’s victory by contributing 169 points, excelling in traditional tribal dances like Irula Dance, Malaya Pulaya Dance, and Paniya Dance.
These performances were part of new additions to the festival.The festival concluded with a closing ceremony at Neyyattinkara Boys’ HSS. MLA K Ansalan inaugurated the event.
Last year’s champions, Thiruvananthapuram South, came second with 869 points, while Kilimanoor, who led during the early stages, ended third with 852 points. Attingal (830 points) and Palode (764 points) rounded out the top five positions.
Carmel Higher Secondary School emerged as the best school with 283 points. SKVHS, Nanniyode (229 points), and KTCCEMHSS, Kaduvayil (207 points), secured second and third places, respectively. Pattom Government Girls’ HSS was named the best government school, while SKV HS Nanniyode was declared the best aided school.
In the UP section, Attingal topped with 154 points, closely followed by Kilimanoor with 152 points. Kilimanoor won the HS section with 362 points, and Thiruvananthapuram South secured second place with 348 points. In the HSS section, North led with 399 points, while South stood second with 382 points. Sectional champions included Nellimoodu St Chrysostom (UP-38 points), Carmel Higher Secondary School (HS- 103 points), and SKV, Nanniyode (HSS-157 points).
Neyyattinkara municipal chairman P K Rajamohan presided over the function, and district panchayat vice-president Shailaja Beegum distributed prizes. Municipal vice- chairperson Priya Suresh, councillors M A Sadath, N K Anitha Kumari and R Ajitha attended the function.
Protests over group dance competition
Protests spiralled out of control at the arts festival over the group dance competition. To protect the judges from the agitated participants, the organisers locked them inside a room. The incident involved participants, parents and trainers from Cotton Hill School, who blocked the organisers and judges for nearly four hours.
The incident happened late Thursday night during the group dance competition for higher secondary school girls. The first prize was given to Carmel School, and the Cotton Hill School appealed the decision.
The protest escalated as the Cotton Hill group verbally abused the judges and blocked them. The judges were escorted from the stage to the programme committee office. Meanwhile, the protesting team gathered outside the office and attempted to break in. As tensions rose, the programme committee decided to lock the judges in a classroom for their safety. The standoff lasted for four hours. The situation was finally brought under control at 7am when a women’s police team arrived and dispersed the protesters.