Thrissur: The land of pooram and pulikali is gearing up to host the 58th State School Youth Festival and a variety of activities have already set the ball rolling on the much anticipated event with the participation of teachers, officials and cultural and political leaders and by setting up the main stages.
The 58th edition has already spread a green halo with the exclusive use of organic vegetables for the feast and pens made of paper and many other green initiatives.
In another unique twist, seeds are used for drawing lots in the event. Several hundred seeds are readied by programme committee officials for the lot by painting numbers on them.
After the fest, the seeds will be handed over to the public and schools children for sowing in school gardens and farms to produce organic vegetables. The seeds of big beans and lablab beans will be used for the lot.
The paper pens with seeds deposited inside them will be used by the officials at all the venues. Each venue has been named after a variety of flower. The Main venue is named Neermathalam and the second venue Nishagandhi and third Neelakurinju, all at the sprawling Thekkinkadu Maidan. Each participant is expected to contribute one coconut for the feast.
The organizing committee officials on Wednesday told DC that more than '1 crore will be spent on the festival, the biggest of its kind in Asia. This will include expenses by committees like pandal, accommodation, transport, food, programme, among others.
A total of Rs 29 lakh has been sanctioned for the pandal committee alone for setting up stages in 24 different locations at Thekkinkad Maidan and its nearby places. There will be a best selfie contest as well to add novelty to the cultural gala. In the first four days of the fest from January 6 to 9, prizes will be given to the best selfies related to the festival. The A4 size printouts of the selfie for the competition should be handed over to the programme committee officials from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The winners will be declared at 5 p.m. on these days.
Writer and Kerala Sahitya Akademi president Vaishakan on Wednesday released the official new bulletin of the festival, the Elanji News Bulletin, at a well-attended function. Guests at the festival are being welcomed by presenting books offered by Sahitya Akademi and miniature caparisons.
