The Kerala government on Monday said the State will hold an annual grand cultural festival here every year in November, starting from 2023, called ‘Keraleeyam’ which will include seminars, film festivals, trade fairs and biennales.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after inaugurating the ‘Keraleeyam 2023’ welcoming committee formation meeting here.
Vijayan said the idea behind the programme, which will be held from November 1 to 7 this year, was to showcase the various unique features of the state and all of its achievements, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
He also said that each year the programme should be conducted in a manner that marks that particular year.
Around 35 exhibitions will be staged in 60 venues in the state capital as part of the ‘Keraleeyam 2023’ programme which will be held for a week starting from November 1 which is ‘Kerala Piravi’ day — the date on which the state was formed, the CMO statement said.
As part of the festival, streets would be decorated with lamps, seminars and exhibitions would be held highlighting the achievements in various fields, in addition to trade fairs, film festivals on five different themes, flower and art shows, international book festival at the Legislative Assembly etc.,.
About 20 seminars on various topics will be held in four venues from November 2 to 6 and on November 7, the programme will conclude with the presentation of the vision of ‘Nava Kerala’, the statement said.
Vijayan said in the meeting that international and national dignitaries, including nobel laureates, would be invited to the festival, and they would go back and mention what they saw here which would benefit the state.
He also said that along with presenting the state’s achievements, the festival will also find out the knowledge needed about the new world and how to implement the same here.
The CM said that presently efforts were being made to belittle achievements of the state and the answer to that is to highlight what Kerala has achieved.