Thiruvananthapuram: From the rhythmic beats of folk drums to the vibrant colours of traditional dance and theatre, the state capital is set to come alive for Onam Tourism Week celebrations from Aug 24, said tourism minister P C Vishnunadh. Around 3,000 artistes will showcase the state’s cultural traditions at 35 venues, with visitors getting the chance to join some of the folk performances and experience the festivities from within.Chief minister V D Satheesan will officially open the festival at 6.30pm on Aug 24. Actor Kunchacko Boban will be the chief guest. As part of the event, a dance performance by Shobana will be held at Nishagandhi from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan will attend the closing ceremony on Aug 30.“We have included Kovalam as one of the venues for the first time because it’s an important tourist destination,” the minister told reporters. Music concerts will be held at Kovalam.Kanakakunnu has been divided into four zones – business, future, art and culture and food. Live sessions and interactive entertainment will allow visitors to directly experience tolpavakoothu, kathakali make-up and chenda melam. Decorative lighting will be arranged from Kowdiar to Attakulangara and from Sasthamangalam to Vellayambalam, he added.In addition to the prominent venues in the city, cultural programmes will be held at Veli, Akkulam, Velayani, Nedumangad, Mudavoorpara boat club, Kazhakkoottam Greenfield Stadium, Attingal, Neyyattinkara, Chempazhanthi, Varkala and Sasthampara.A thiruvathira competition will begin at Bharat Bhavan on Aug 23, along with a food festival at Kanakakunnu. On Aug 24, a special pookkalam competition will also be held at Jawahar Balabhavan. In addition, to give special importance to indigenous art traditions, folk art performances will be held daily at Nishagandhi from 6pm to 7pm. Special seating will also be arranged for foreign tourists and visitors from different states.The trade fair will be inaugurated on Friday. On the same day, a flag procession beginning from Kovalam will travel through all the assembly constituencies in the district before concluding at Kanakakunnu on Sunday, where the Onam flag will be hoisted.Celebrities, including Vineeth Sreenivasan, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, Unni Menon, Nithya Mammen, Madhu Balakrishnan, Aravind Venugopal and Abhaya Hiranmayi, will take part.Vishnunadh said that district tourism promotion councils will organise programmes at one destination each in every district, like Sambranikodi in Kollam.As part of the celebrations, the police department will deploy the K9 squad and organise cyber awareness and live women’s self-defence demonstrations.In collaboration with Suchitwa Mission and in keeping with the green protocol, this year’s Onam celebrations will be conducted under the theme of a completely eco-friendly Onam, he said.
