The capital is set to drown in Onam fervour. On Saturday evening, Tourism Minister P. A. Mohamed Riyas will switch on the city-wide illumination. Either side of the main thoroughfare from Kowdiar to Manacaud will be lit up all through the week-long celebrations. Festival revellers from within the city and surrounding regions are expected to make a beeline for the streets over the next few days. The Vellayambalam-Sasthamangalam road will also be illuminated for the first time from this year.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the State-level Onam week celebrations at the Nishagandhi open air auditorium in the capital at 6 p.m. on August 27. Dancer Mallika Sarabhai and actor Fahadh Faasil will be the chief guests at the function. Various cultural programmes, including music and dance events and mega shows, will be organised in 31 venues spread out across the city over the next week. Folk art performances, fusion music, concerts by popular musicians and other events will be held across the venues. Over 8,000 artistes are set to participate in the events.
Venues, performers
The major venues include Kanakakkunnu Palace, Sooryakanthi auditorium, Central Stadium, Poojappura maithanam, Akkulam Tourist Village, Thycaud Police Stadium, Greenfield Stadium, Shanghumughom beach, Bharat Bhavan, Gandhi Park, Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan and Public Office Compound. Events are also scheduled in the city’s outskirts and adjacent towns at Vellayani, Attingal, Neyyattinkara, Chempazhanthi and Vellar Craft Village.
Trade and food festivals will be held in various parts of city. Media organisations have been allotted Central Stadium near Statue and Police Ground at Thycaud for conducting programmes. The list of performers at Central Stadium include Naresh Iyer, Sithara, Job Kurian, Jassy Gift, Suraj Santosh and others, while at Poojappura grounds, Unni Menon, Nithya Mammen, Aparna Rajeev and Sudeep Kumar will perform. At the Greenfield Stadium, Gayathri, Nishad, Pandalam Balan, Najeem Arshad and Renjini Jose will perform.
