After a hiatus of three years, the annual Onam Week celebrations will be organised this year on a grand scale from September 6 to 12. A meeting chaired by Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas here on Saturday decided to organise events in 30 venues in the State capital alone.
An annual feature for long, the conduct of the State-level Onam celebrations was suspended in 2018 owing to the floods that ravaged the State. In 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic came in the way of the celebrations. A high-level panel with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the chief patron, has been formed for the conduct of the festival.
An executive committee comprising MPs and MLAs from Thiruvananthapuram district as patrons was also formed. Various committees in charge of programme, infrastructure, media and publicity, food festival, trade fair and exhibition, sponsorship, illumination, security, procession and green protocol were also formed.
Applications’ deadline
Besides, there will be subcommittees for various art forms to be presented during the festival. The last date for receiving applications from artistes and troupes for participating in the event is August 7. Each committee will have a chairman, a convenor and a co-ordinator. Mr. Vijayan will inaugurate the State-level celebrations at the Nishagandhi open air auditorium in the capital city on September 6 (Pooradam day).
This is a major cultural event with tremendous scope to attract tourists to the State, Mr. Riyas said. The week-long celebrations will conclude with a colourful pageantry from Vellayambalam to the East Fort in the city on September 12.
