Kottayam, Tuesday 18 January 2010: Curtain will go up on six days of exuberance and excitement, of triumph and fall when the 51st Kerala State Schools Arts Festival will be declared open here today morning.

The festival, being held under a pall of gloom following the death of 102 Sabarimala pilgrims in Idukki on Saturday, will formally be declared open by Minister for Education M.A. Baby at a function at 8.30 a.m.

The inaugural function which was originally scheduled for Monday was rescheduled following the tragedy. V.N. Vasavan, MLA, will preside. Mathur Govindankutty will be the guest of honour.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy; Jose K. Mani, MP; MLAs; district panchayat president Radha V. Nair; MG University Vice-Chancellor Rajan Gurukkal; and other dignitaries will participate.
The main venue, named after Ponkunnam Varkey, will then be opened for competitions in Margom Kali and Bharathanatyam, which will begin at 5 p.m. According to authorities, 7,090 contestants will be participating in the festival.

Alappuzha will have the distinction of sending the largest male contingent while Palakkad will send the highest number of girls. The festival, being organised at 17 venues, will also present cultural programmes every evening.

The concluding day will witness “Makkalodoppam”, an interactive programme at which poet Sugathakumari, actor KPAC Lalitha and others will participate. The half-a-century-old Kerala State Schools Festival, (began in 1957) is being organised for the fifth time in Kottayam. The festival comes to Kottayam from Kozhikode last year.