Adraja Pramod of St. Joseph’s Anglo Indian Girls Higher Secondary School, Kozhikode, performing Bharatanatyam at the State School Arts Festival in Thrissur on Friday.
| Photo Credit: K.K. Mustafah
“So, will Thrissur win it again?” the autorickshaw driver wanted to know. The ‘it’ in question was the Gold Cup presented to the district that scores the maximum points at the the State School Arts Festival, which Thrissur lifted at the previous edition of the festival in Thiruvananthapuram, but only after a close race in which it finished with 1,008 points, just one point more than the runner-up Palakkad.
The competition to become the champion district in what must be the world’s biggest arts festival of its kind could well be close this year too.
On the third day of the festival, Kannur took a 16-point lead, with the results a few events remaining to be declared. Kannur, the champion in 2024, has 709 points, while Kozhikode, the festival’s most-dominant district which last won the Gold Cup in 2023, is in the second place with 693 points.
Thrissur and Palakkad have 691 points each. Thiruvananthapuram, which last won the Gold Cup in 1989 (it was the champion every year that decade), has 673 points and is placed fifth, with one point more than the neighbouring Kollam. Of course, all these could change with two days of competitions remaining.
The festival’s third day also produced several outstanding performances in a wide array of art forms and many of the events attracted full houses. The Kerala Bank Auditorium, in fact, struggled to accommodate the fans of Folk Song (Nadan Pattu).
There was a near full house at MTHSS auditorium for boys’ Folk Dance. That must have pleased the performers, as it is the folk-dancing girls who usually attract larger crowds.
Girls’ Kuchipudi is also a pretty popular event at the School festival, and its standard has seen a rise over the past several years. For a long time, Kuchipudi at the festival meant dancers performing a balancing act with a plate beneath their feet and a pot on the head (Tharangam). But because of contributions from well-trained dancers like Anupama Mohan, that has changed. There has been more of authentic Kuchipudi of late. But the HSS girls’ competition was a bit of a disappointment overall, despite some girls performing well.
The day also saw exceptional shows in Mono Act, Parichamuttukali and the increasingly popular tribal dances.
Published – January 16, 2026 10:35 pm IST
