20th National Youth Festival from Jan 12 in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: Over 6000 youths from across the country will gather at the upcoming-capital Naya Raipur of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday for the 20th National Youth Festival.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address the youths via video conferencing during the opening ceremony while Union minister Nitin Gadkari will grace the occasion as the chief guest," a government official told PTI.

The preparations for the festival, themed "India Youth for Skill, Development and Harmony", are at final stages. Co-incidentally the inauguration is on the day which is the 153rd birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, he added.

Over 6,000 participants from across the country would converge to take part in the annual gathering of students being jointly organised by Chhattisgarh Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan and National Service Scheme.

Rajyostav Sthal at Naya Raipur will be the main venue of the five-day event which will see contests in 18 different disciplines, including folk dance, folk song, drama, classical music, classical dance, extempore etc, the officer said.

Apart from Rajyostav Sthal, competitions will also be held at auditoriums of the educational institutions located in its close proximity. Indian Army displaying para-trooping, youth parliament and adventure sports would be key attractions of the festival, he said.

For the first time in the youth fest, para-trooping would be displayed by Indian Army while weapons and explosives used during war will also be put on exhibition, he said.

Meanwhile, a Youth Parliament will also be held where representatives of student unions and Universities would discuss key issues of the country particularly on 'India Youth for Skill, Development and Harmony, he said.

The mascot for the event is the state animal of Chhattisgarh - Wild Buffalo, in famous dancing pose of Bastar tribals. The mascot symbolises strength, gives message of physical fitness to youth of nation and its dancing pose signifies festive zeal.

The mascot has been named as 'Sangi', which means "friend", he added.