The curtain will go up on the State government’s Onam celebrations on September 3.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the week-long celebrations hosted by the Tourism department at Nishagandhi Auditorium, Kanakakkunnu, at 6 p.m. on September 3, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said at a press conference here on Saturday.
Director and actor Basil Joseph and Tamil actor Ravi Mohan (Jayam Ravi) will be the chief guests. Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas will preside over the event, which will draw to a close on September 9.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Ministers V. Sivankutty and G.R. Anil, MPs and MLAs, Mayor Arya Rajendran, district panchayat president D. Suresh Kumar, Tourism Secretary K. Biju, and Tourism director Shikha Surendran will be present.
The inaugural will be followed by a music nite.
Week-long extravaganza
The week-long Onam extravaganza will be marked by music, dance, and instrumental music programmes, held at multiple venues. With a cultural procession and lighting decorations thrown in, the event will be more elaborate and varied this year, Mr. Sivankutty said.
The State’s traditional art forms apart, modern art forms, audio-visual presentations and martial arts events will add lustre to the fete. Thousands of artistes, including prominent names, will take part in the programmes.
Beyond Kanakakkunnu, the other 32 venues include Central Stadium, Poojappura grounds Shanghumughom, Bharat Bhavan, Gandhi Park, Museum compound, Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan, Akkulam, Veli tourist village, and venues outside the city such as Varkala tourism centre and Nedumangad.
Flag hoisting for the Onam celebrations will be held at Kanakakkunnu on Sunday evening.
Prior to that, the Onam trade fair will be inaugurated at Kanakakkunnu at 2 p.m.
A tug-of-war at Central Stadium at 5 p.m. on September 2 will see MLAs, Corporation, district panchayat, and Secretariat staff and mediapersons take part.
The ornamental lighting and media centre inauguration will be held at 6.30 p.m. on the day.
Another highlight of the event is the Athapookkalam competition to be organised at Jawahar Balbhavan, Vellayambalam, on September 2.
Music programmmes by Sarath, Mano, Chinmayi Sripada, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sithara Krishnakumar; and a mega show by Suraj Venjaramoodu will be held at Kanakakkunnu.
Musicians such as Naresh Iyer, Biju Narayanan, Kallara Gopan, Sudeep Kumar, Vidhu Pratap, Najim Arshad, Ramya Nambeesan, Rajesh Cherthala, Nithya Mammen, Pushpavathy will also present programmes at various venues.
Visual presentation of Kerala art forms, led by Pramod Payyannur and G.S. Pradeep, will be held at Nishagandhi.
Music band, classical music, dance performances, comedy mega shows, plays will add to the appeal of the celebrations.
A cultural procession from Vellayambalam to East Fort on September 9 will mark the valedictory of the Onam celebrations. It will be flagged off at Manaveeyam Veedhi. Nearly 150 floats and artistes from other States will take part in the procession.
The Onam celebrations in the other districts will be organised by the Tourism department, district administration, and the district tourism promotion councils (DTPCs), the Minister said.
Published – August 30, 2025 06:38 pm IST
