Youth fest mascot ‘Gori’ unveiled

At a time when nations cannot come to a conclusion on carbon emission reduction at the Copenhagen summit, the NYF mascot from Bhitarkanika would certainly tell the nation regarding the preservation aspects of the fragile mangrove ecosystem, he observed.

The NYF to be held from January 8-12 here will have 3,500 youths as participants and another 1,500 craftsmen and artisans to take part at various exhibitions and shows.

With a theme ‘Celebrating diversity’, the NYF has also got a special song which has been written by Dr. Manjari Guru of Madhya Pradesh. Well-known composer from Orissa Basudeb Rath has scored the music.

The budget of the festival would be around Rs 4 crore which is to be borne by the Centre and State in equal proportion. If the expenditure exceeds the limits then it would be compensated, said Sports and Youth Services Secretary PK Mohapatra.

Speaking to mediapersons after the mascot unveiling ceremony, he said the security aspect for the meet has also been taken care of realising the increased Maoist activity in the region.

Calling for cooperation from every citizen of the city in extending hospitality to the NYF participants, he said special care would also be taken to provide unique Oriya dishes to every participant. Apart from folk dances, songs, one act plays, classical vocal and instrumental, classical dances, elocution and other non-competitive events, handicrafts shows by youth, food festival and sand art shows will be part of the mega event, Mohapatra informed.

Special cultural events like rock band concert, young artists’ camp, ‘hasya kavi sammelan’, musical nites by Hans Raj Hans, Babul Supriyo and Usha Uthup and adventure sports like parasailing, hot air balooning, flying fox, artificial rock wall, monkey crawl, rappelling, zorbing, spider web, jummaring and Burma bridge will be included, he said. The concluding day of the NYF coincides with Swami Vivekananda’s birthday. So a special camp on adolescent development will also be on the agenda. Though the main venue of the festival is Kalinga Stadium, play ground near Capital High School and KIIT University campus would be extensively used for the five-day meet, he said.

Information and Public Relations Minister Prafulla Samal and Sports and Youth Services Minister Praveen Chandra Bhanj Deo also spoke.