City sub-district overall champions at district school arts fete

Kozhikode School Arts Festival ends with City sub-district leading, featuring 12,000 students in 300 events across 20 venues.

The Kozhikode Revenue District School Arts Festival, the teenage cultural extravaganza that spanned five days, came to a remarkable end in the city on Saturday (November 23), with the Kozhikode City sub-district once again leading the race for the overall championship trophy. The City sub-district scored 938 points, while Chavayur came second with 924 points. Koduvally secured third place with 892 points.

The festival, which featured around 12,000 students competing in over 300 events at 20 venues across the city, saw an unprecedented rise of the schools from the rural sector. Silver Hills HSS, Paroppady, in the Chevayur sub-district, had held the trophy for the highest-scoring school for nearly two decades, with very few schools posing serious competition. However, this year, Memunda HSS (322 points) from the Thodannur sub-district broke Silver Hills’ (316 points) dream run for six points. The other schools in the top five include Perambra HSS (255 points), Thiruvangoor HSS (236 points), and GHSS Kokkallur (230 points), all from the rural sector of the district.

However, since many of the events ran late into the evening, the prize distribution cremony has been postponed for November 26. Mayor Beena Philip will distribute the prizes at 10.30 a.m. at BEM HSS, Mananchira.

Earlier in the day, the venues came alive with events such as Bharatanatyam, Margam Kali, Arabana Mutt, Kathakali, Folk songs, Group songs, Parichamutt kali, Patriotic songs, Duff Mutt and Band.

Tribal art forms such as Malapulaya Attam, Paniya Nritham, Mangalam Kali, Irula Nritham and Paliya Nritham were included in the arts festival for the first time this year. Most events saw good participation, though many schools complained about the dearth of trainers for such events.