National Youth fest to commence from Jan 12 in Pune

Mumbai, Jan 10 (UNI) The 12th National Youth festival will commence in Pune from Friday.

The four-day festival will be inaugurated by Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

The annual fest is held on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, which is observed as 'National Youth Day'.

Talking to reporters here yesterday, Sports and Youth Welfare director Laxmikant Deshmukh said the festival is being organised in India since 1995. This year's theme is ''Youth for Peace, Progress and Prosperity'' and the logo of the festival is a dancing pair on the backdrop of Shanirwada, while the mascot is a rabbit wearing 'Puneri pagdi' and blowing a 'tutari'.

He said over 3500 participants from all over the country, including neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Pakistan, will participate in the fest.

Mr Deshmukh said apart from the young artisans, the volunteers of National Sample Survey (NSS) will participate in the event.

Pesident Dr A P J Abdul Kalam will be present for the concluding ceremony.

Various cultural programmes and competitions will be organised during the festival. In all, Rs two crore would be spent on the festival, he added.

UNI