64th Kerala School Kalolsavam

The 64th edition of the festival was scheduled to be held in Thrissur after the General Education Department announced the host city in July 2025.^[7] The event schedule was formally released in December 2025, fixing the festival from 14 to 18 January 2026 across 25 venues in the city.^[1]

The 2026 edition was organised under the theme Responsible Kalolsavam. Organisers framed the event around responsible consumption, responsible food habits and responsible competition, while also introducing green measures such as discouraging plastic use and regulating sound systems.^[2][1]

The festival continued the inclusion of tribal art forms introduced in the previous edition. Contemporary reporting noted stronger participation across all five tribal performance items in 2026, indicating wider adoption by schools across districts.^[8]

The festival was inaugurated on 14 January 2026 at the main venue in Thrissur by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.^[1][3] In his inaugural address, Vijayan described the festival as a space for artistic expression and social harmony, and called for art to be used against divisive tendencies in society.^[3]

The 64th Kerala School Kalolsavam was held at 25 venues in and around Thrissur. The venues were named after flowers, with the main venue at the Pooram Exhibition Ground in Thekkinkadu Maidan named Sooryakanthi.^[2][9]

A common dining facility was arranged at Palace Ground, while registration functioned at Government Model Boys HSS and the programme office at Government Model GVHSS.^[1] The festival kitchen, led by Pazhayidam Mohanan Namboothiri, was designed to serve thousands of participants daily, with the dining pavilion accommodating 4,000 people at a time.^[10]

During the festival, Class X student Siya Fathima of Kasaragod district became the first participant in the history of the Kerala School Kalolsavam to compete remotely. She was granted special permission by the General Education Department after being diagnosed with vasculitis and placed under strict quarantine. Participating via video conference in Arabic poster designing, she secured an A grade.^[5][6]

The closing ceremony was held on 18 January 2026, with actor Mohanlal attending as chief guest.^[1][11] Kannur district won the overall championship with 1,028 points, narrowly ahead of host district Thrissur on 1,023 points; Kozhikode finished third with 1,017 points.^[4][11]

The table below provides an overview of the performance of each of the 14 districts, showing the final points earned.