Gold cup and first batch of students to arrive in Kollam today  

Kollam to host 62nd State School Arts Festival, gold cup procession from Kozhikode, reception at entry point, green protocol in place.

As Kollam is all set to host the 62nd State School Arts Festival, the coveted gold cup for winners will arrive in the district on Wednesday.

Kozhikode was the previous champions and the cup will be brought from there to Kollam in a procession that began on Tuesday.

The cup will travel through Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts on Wednesday, entering the district at Kulakkada on MC Road. The procession will be accorded a reception at the entry point and Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, who is also the chairman of the organising committee, will receive the cup. Ministers J. Chinchurani and K.B. Ganesh Kumar, Mayor Prasanna Earnest, and district panchayat president P.K. Gopan will be present. The procession will then proceed to Asramam Maidan, the main venue of the festival, while the first batch of students is also expected to arrive the same day.

Twenty-five students from Kasaragod will arrive in the district around 6.30 p.m. and they will be given a reception at the Kollam railway station.

ONV Smriti, the main venue at Asramam, has a 60,000 sq ft pandal that can accommodate 10,000 chairs at a time. Ummar, a resident of Thrissur, who has been setting up the stage and pandal for the past 25 years, is in charge this time too. The 54-acre maidan was cleaned on Tuesday. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers, Haritha Karma Sena members, Kollam city Corporation sanitation workers, voluntary organisations, various local body representatives, Suchitwa Mission, political and socio-cultural activists, health workers, and government employees participated in the drive that was carried out in complete accordance with the green protocol. As part of efforts to ensure 100% compliance, terracotta water containers or ‘koojas’ and glasses will be placed at all venues instead of plastic. A total of 500 terracotta pots, 250 jugs and glasses from 40 pottery centres in Peringottukurissi, Palakkad, have been already brought to the venues.