Raipur . 3100 youth will participate in the State Youth Festival-2025 to be held from 23 December to 25 December in the judicial capital Bilaspur. It is being organised by the Sports and Youth Welfare Department at the State Sports Training Centre, Bahtarai. In this, the winning participants of the district level youth festival will showcase their talent in 14 disciplines. The winning participants of the State Youth Festival will represent Chhattisgarh in the National Youth Festival to be held next year. In the inaugural ceremony of the festival on 23 December, the launching ceremony of the first Khelo India Tribal Games to be hosted by Chhattisgarh will also take place. Various cultural and stage programmes will also be held during this three-day event. 

Deputy Chief Minister and Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Mr. Arun Sawh today gave information about the competitions and programs to be held during the State Youth Festival at a press conference. He released the festival's poster at the press conference held at his residence in Nava Raipur. State Youth Commission Chairman Mr. Vishwa Vijay Singh Tomar, Sports and Youth Welfare Department Secretary Mr. Yashwant Kumar, and Director Mrs. Tanuja Salam were also present at the press conference. 

Deputy Chief Minister Shri Arun Saw told in the press conference that in line with the National Youth Festival-2026, to connect the youth of Chhattisgarh with cultural activities, to enhance their talent and to provide a platform for their performance at the national level, the Sports and Youth Welfare Department is organizing the Youth Festival at the district and state level. The district level Youth Festival was organized in all the districts of the state from 24 November to 15 December. The winning participants of 14 different categories at the district level will participate in the state level Youth Festival. 

The State Youth Festival will feature competitions in 14 disciplines, including eight team events and six solo events. The team events will include folk dance, Panthi dance, Raut Nacha, Sua dance, Karma dance, folk song, rock band, and one-act play. The solo events will include debate, story writing, painting, poetry writing, innovation (Science Fair), and traditional costumes.

In the State Youth Festival, the participants securing first position in team events will be given a prize money of Rs 20,000, those securing second position will be given Rs 15,000 and those securing third position will be given Rs 10,000. Participants securing first, second and third positions in solo events will be given Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively. Every participant taking part in the festival will be given an incentive amount of Rs 1,000 each. The winners of the five cultural competitions in the State Youth Festival - folk dance, folk song, debate, painting and poetry writing - will participate in the National Youth Festival - 2026 to be held in New Delhi.  

During the State Youth Festival, various events like singing by famous artists, band performances, poetry recitation etc. will also be organised. On the day of the inaugural ceremony on 23rd December, from 5 pm to 8 pm, there will be a performance by Aarug Band (Mr. Anuj Sharma) and the famous Mallakhamb performance of Narayanpur will be held at the State Sports Training Centre, Bahtarai. On the same day on 23rd December, there will be a poetry recitation at Bilaspur Police Ground from 8.30 pm, in which famous poet Dr. Kumar Vishwas and other poets will recite poems.

On the second day of the State Youth Festival, December 24th, the Kafila Band and Swapnil Live Band will perform at the State Sports Training Center, Bahtarai, from 6 p.m. On the final day, December 25th, Ms. Aru Sahu and the Dayara (Bastar) Band will perform from 6 p.m. Prizes will be distributed to the winning participants at the closing ceremony. Mrs. Rashmi Thakur, Deputy Director of the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, and several departmental officials were also present at the press conference.