A Bible Kalotsavam (or Bible Kalolsavam) is a kalolsavam-style arts festival for catechism students, run by Malayalee Catholic parishes and dioceses — the two real rule books below come from the UK and Australia. The items are familiar from any kalolsavam — song, dance, elocution, drawing, writing — but most are tied to the Bible: Bible reading, Bible mono act, Bible costume, a Bible tableau and a Bible skit. Below are four real structures from four rule books (two diaspora, one archeparchy-wide, one diocese-wide), as a programs list with age groups, items and time limits you can adapt.
Jump to: Structure 1 (diocese-wide, all ages) · Structure 2 (one parish, children) · Structure 3 (archeparchy-wide, by school class, no marks printed) · Structure 4 (diocese-wide, LP–HSS classes, bilingual elocution, full marks printed) · Which one to use
Structure 1: a diaspora-wide Bible Kalotsavam, from under 7 to adults
Used by a Malayalee Catholic diocese in the UK for a Bible Kalotsavam open to all its parishes. Every item is marked out of 50, and a few team items are open to all ages together.
| Age group | Ages |
|---|---|
| Up to 7 years | up to 7 |
| 8-10 years | 8–10 |
| 11-13 years | 11–13 |
| 14-17 years | 14–17 |
| 18-24 years | 18–24 |
| Adults | 25+ |
| All ages (team items) | All ages |
| Item | Age groups | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Bible Reading | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 2 min |
| Elocution | 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years, 18-24 years, Adults | 3 min |
| Colour Painting | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 60 min |
| Pencil Sketching | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 60 min |
| Essay Writing | 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years, 18-24 years, Adults | 30 min |
| Bible Mono Act | 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 5 min |
| Bible Costume | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years | Not fixed |
| Song Solo | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years, 18-24 years, Adults | 5 min |
| Dance Solo | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 5 min |
| Song Group team item | 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years, 18-24 years, Adults | 5 min |
| Dance Group team item | Up to 7 years, 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 5 min |
| Instrumental Keyboard | 8-10 years, 11-13 years, 14-17 years | 3 min |
| Margam Kali team item | All ages (team items) | 9 min |
| Bible Tableau team item | All ages (team items) | 1 min |
| Bible Skit team item | All ages (team items) | 10 min |
| Short Film team item | All ages (team items) | 11 min |
Structure 2: a single parish, children only, with combined team pools
Used by a Malayalee Catholic parish in Australia for its catechism students. Every item is marked out of 10, and team items combine neighbouring age groups so each team has enough children.
| Age group | Ages |
|---|---|
| Sub Junior | 6–8 |
| Junior | 9–11 |
| Senior | 12–14 |
| Super Senior | 15–17 |
| Group dance pool: Sub Junior + Junior | 6–11 |
| Group dance pool: Senior + Super Senior | 12–17 |
| Bible quiz teams: Junior to Super Senior | 9–17 |
| All categories (team items) | 6–17 |
| Item | Age groups | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Single Song boys and girls separately | Sub Junior, Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 3 min |
| Elocution | Sub Junior, Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 3 min |
| Bible Reading | Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 2 min |
| Essay Writing | Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 40 min |
| Poem Writing | Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 40 min |
| Pencil Drawing | Sub Junior, Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 45 min |
| Biblical Story Telling | Sub Junior | 4 min |
| Bible Verses Writing | Junior, Senior, Super Senior | 30 min |
| Bible Quiz team item | Bible quiz teams: Junior to Super Senior | Not fixed |
| Fancy Dress | Sub Junior | 1 min |
| Margamkali team item; girls only | All categories (team items) | 5 min |
| Group Dance team item | Group dance pool: Sub Junior + Junior, Group dance pool: Senior + Super Senior | 5 min |
| Biblical Skit team item | All categories (team items) | 15 min |
| Biblical Tableau team item | All categories (team items) | 1 min |
| Group Song team item | All categories (team items) | 6 min |
Structure 3: an archeparchy-wide fest grouped by school class, with no marks printed at all
Used by a Catholic archeparchy’s catechetical department for its annual faith fest, open to every parish’s catechism classes. Unlike Structures 1 and 2, the rules group students by school class, not age — a seven-year-old in Class 2 competes with every other Class 1–2 student, regardless of their exact birthday. Entries run through a two-tier ladder: each parish (forane) holds its own round first, and only the top two placings per item go on to the archeparchial final. The rules print judging headings for most items but no numeric marks for any of them — the printed headings total only 30 or 40 points, never the 100 a scoring platform expects, so every item ships with a plain default maximum and the organiser decides how (or whether) to use it. Two items, a written Bible quiz and a Bible-verse-writing task, print no judging headings at all.
| Section | School class | Age guide |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus Kids | pre-school | 3–5 |
| Little Disciples & Seekers of the Word | Classes 1–2 | 6–7 |
| Faith Explorers | Classes 3–4 | 8–9 |
| Torchbearers | Classes 5–6 | 10–11 |
| Covenant Keepers | Classes 7–8 | 12–13 |
| Pathfinders | Classes 9–10 | 14–15 |
| Summit Seekers | Classes 11–12 | 16–18 |
| Item | Section | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fancy Dress | Jesus Kids | 2 min |
| Character Presentation | Little Disciples & Seekers of the Word | 2 min |
| Action Song | Little Disciples & Seekers of the Word | 3 min |
| Colouring | Little Disciples & Seekers of the Word | 30 min |
| Solo Song | Faith Explorers, Torchbearers, Covenant Keepers | 3 min |
| Bible Quiz written test, no marks printed | Faith Explorers, Pathfinders | 5 min |
| Bible Story Telling | Faith Explorers | 3 min |
| Solo Folk Dance | Torchbearers, Covenant Keepers | 4 min |
| Bible Verse Writing no marks printed | Torchbearers | 10 min |
| Gospel Newsroom | Covenant Keepers | 3 min |
| Mono Act | Pathfinders | 4 min |
| Sermon Voices | Pathfinders | 3 min |
| Bible Shark Tank | Summit Seekers | 3 min |
| Poster Making | Summit Seekers | 60 min |
| Extempore Speech | Summit Seekers | 3 min |
Every item is individual — the rules print no team or group event at all, which is unusual for a kalolsavam-style fest and worth noting if you’re adapting this structure. The circular also deducts a mark for every 15 seconds a performer runs over time, disqualifies anyone who mixes languages mid-item, and caps entries at two items per student and two entries per item per parish at the forane round — rules a chest-number system has no dedicated field for, so they’re enforced through the registration form and the judges’ own briefing, not through age-group or item settings.
Structure 4: a diocese-wide Bible Kalotsavam by school class, with bilingual elocution and full marks printed
Used by a Catholic diocese’s catechetics commission for its annual, diocese-wide Bible Kalotsavam, held over two days — literary events on one day, stage and group events on the next. Like Structure 3 it groups students by school class (LP, UP, HS, HSS), but unlike Structure 3 it prints a full 100-mark judging breakdown for every single item, with no gaps. A few items run in two languages as separate entries — Elocution is held once in English and again in Malayalam for the same classes, so a UP student can enter both as two distinct items on the same programme.
| Section | School class | Age guide |
|---|---|---|
| LP | Std 1–4 | 6–9 |
| UP | Std 5–7 | 10–12 |
| HS | Std 8–10 | 13–15 |
| HSS | Std 11–12 | 16–18 |
| All sections (group items) one team per parish | Std 1–12 | 6–18 |
| Item | Sections | Time | Marks out of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elocution (English) | LP, UP, HS, HSS | 5 min | 100 |
| Elocution (Malayalam) | UP, HS, HSS | 5 min | 100 |
| Extempore Speech | UP, HS, HSS | 5 min | 100 |
| Psalm Reciting | UP, HS, HSS | 3 min | 100 |
| Bible Reading | LP, UP | 3 min | 100 |
| Bible Story Telling | LP | 3 min | 100 |
| Mono Act | UP, HS, HSS | 5 min | 100 |
| Solo Song | LP, UP, HS, HSS | 3 min | 100 |
| Solo Folk Dance | LP, UP, HS, HSS | 5 min | 100 |
| Essay Writing | UP, HS, HSS | 60 min | 100 |
| Story Writing | UP, HS, HSS | 60 min | 100 |
| Poetry Writing | UP, HS, HSS | 60 min | 100 |
| Pencil Sketching | LP, UP, HS, HSS | 60 min | 100 |
| Poster Colour Painting | LP, UP, HS, HSS | 90 min | 100 |
| Group Dance team item | All sections | 10 min | 100 |
| Margamkali team item | All sections | 10 min | 100 |
| Group Song team item | All sections | 8 min | 100 |
| Mime team item, boys only | All sections | 5 min | 100 |
Every item carries a printed judging breakdown that adds up to exactly 100 — for example Elocution splits 50 Content / 50 Style, Extempore splits 60 Content / 40 Style, and Margamkali splits 60 Performance / 20 Costumes / 20 Singing. That makes Structure 4 the opposite of Structure 3 on this one point: both group by school class, but Structure 3 prints no numeric marks anywhere while Structure 4 prints a full rubric for every item. Rules the platform has no field for are left to the organiser — an online audition round before the main fest, per-student and per-parish entry caps, minimum team sizes for each group item, and word limits on the writing items. The diocese also says grading will continue “as earlier” without printing the actual grade bands, so no ranks or grades ship with this structure either.
Which structure should you use?
- Many parishes, whole families taking part? Structure 1 runs from under 7 to adults. Its “all ages” team items (tableau, skit, Margam Kali, short film) let a parish enter one mixed team instead of forming a team for every age group.
- One parish, children only? Structure 2 keeps four children’s bands and combines them for team items. Group dance runs in two pools (younger and older), Bible quiz is a team item from Junior upwards, and group song, skit, tableau and Margam Kali are open to all categories.
- A whole archeparchy, with a forane round before the final, and no marks at all? Structure 3 groups students by school class instead of age, runs every item individually, and prints no numeric marks for any item — only the top two placings per item from each forane’s round go on to the archeparchial final.
- A whole diocese, grouped by school class, with a full printed rubric for every item? Structure 4 groups by LP/UP/HS/HSS instead of age, runs Elocution twice (English and Malayalam) as two distinct items, and prints a 100-mark judging breakdown for every single item — the one structure here with no judging gaps at all.
- Decide the mark scale first. Three structures mark every item (out of 50, out of 10, or out of 100); Structure 3 prints no marks at all. Whichever you adapt, judges, the tabulation and any grade bands must all use the same scale.
For judging the Bible-themed items, see the criteria for mono act, tableau and mime, skit and costume and fancy dress. For other church competitions, see the Sunday School talent test programs list and the church youth talent test programs list.
Run your Bible Kalotsavam on eTalenter
Age groups, combined team pools, the items in each, girls-only and boys’/girls’ entries, time limits and your mark scale are all settings. Parents register their children online, each parish’s coordinator approves its entries, judges score on their phones, and results and certificates are published for every parish. Open a live demo and log in as a demo coordinator or judge (no sign-up), message us on WhatsApp (WhatsApp only — no phone calls), or email support@etalenter.com.
Frequently asked questions
What items are in a Bible Kalotsavam?
Bible reading, elocution, solo and group song, solo and group dance, drawing and painting, essay and poem writing, Bible verse writing, Bible storytelling, Bible mono act, Bible costume or fancy dress, Bible quiz, Margam Kali, and the team items Bible tableau and Bible skit. Some add a short film.
What are the age groups in a Bible Kalotsavam?
Each organiser sets its own. One real pattern runs from under 7 through 8–10, 11–13, 14–17 and 18–24 to adults; another uses four children’s bands — Sub Junior 6–8, Junior 9–11, Senior 12–14 and Super Senior 15–17.
Should students be grouped by age or by school class?
Either works — it depends on how your organiser already tracks students. Most Bible Kalotsavam structures use age bands (under 7, 8–10, and so on). Two real fests instead group every student by school class — an archeparchy-wide one by individual class pairs (Classes 1–2, 3–4, and so on) and a diocese-wide one by the familiar LP/UP/HS/HSS bands — which keeps classmates together and avoids arguing over birthdays near a cut-off date. A platform that supports both lets you set whichever your catechism records already use.
Can the same item run in two languages as separate entries?
Yes — one real diocese-wide Bible Kalotsavam runs Elocution twice for the same classes, once in English and once in Malayalam, as two distinct programme items rather than a single bilingual item. A student in that section can enter both. This only works if the platform lets you assign the same competition item to a group more than once with a different language setting each time.
How is a Bible tableau judged?
A tableau is a frozen scene, so it is judged on how clearly the Bible story reads, the composition and grouping, stillness and expression — usually with a very short time on stage. The tableau judging criteria give a full sample rubric.
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