More than thirty thousand youths from across the country will participate in the inauguration ceremony of the National Youth Festival, said Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur.

The National Youth festival is held on January 12, every year, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

“More than thirty thousand youths across the country will be coming for the inauguration ceremony of the National Youth festival. Apart from this, more than 7,500 youths across the nation will actively participate in the festival,” he said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the National Youth festival which will begin on January 12 in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad in Karnataka.

The National Youth festival will continue till January 16, said Thakur.

“There will be competitive as well as non-competitive events at the festival,” the Minister added.

“As the nation is celebrating the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence. We hope that the youth is empowered and they play a vital role in the development of the nation,” he said.

Talking about the G-20 Presidency of India, Thakur said, “It is a historic moment for all of us. Meetings of the Youth 20 will also be held in different parts of the country, as part of India’s Presidency.”

“We will try to provide the youths who are coming from across India to the festival with the information of Y-20. When these students go back to their states they will be engaging in Y Talks, which will be held in college and universities across India,” said Thakur.

“The message which the people from different parts of the globe put during India’s G-20 presidency, we will convey it across the country through Y-20 and Y talks,” he added.

He also said that five traditional games of India like malkham, yogasana, kalarepattu, Thangta and Gatka will be included in the festival so that people get to know about them and they can become national and international games in the future. (ANI)