Kerala government has issued orders cancelling all State-sponsored festivals against the backdrop of the unprecedented floods of the last fortnight.

With this, the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and the State School Arts Festival, two important events in Kerala's cultural calendar, would not take place this year. Competitions that normally form part of the State school arts festival would be held up to the district level without the normal fanfare.

The government has also made it clear that all festivals being organised with financial support of the State government, including programmes of Kerala Tourism, would stand cancelled. It has asked all heads of departments to remit the sums budgeted for the festivities in the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).