The five-day festivities of the 26th National Youth Festival concluded with vibrant dance and music performances on the mega stage erected on the campus of Karnatak College in Dharwad on Monday night.
The concluding day saw an overwhelming response with a large number of people thronging the college campus and enjoying the dance and music programmes presented by renowned artistes and musicians.
Before the curtain came down on the mega show depicting the country’s unity in diversity, Bollywood playback singer Amit Trivedi and his troupe and Kathak couple Nirupama and Rajendra held the thousands of spectators in a spell with their mesmerising performances.
During the five days of the youth festival, held for the first time in North Karnataka, it was not just the cultural performances that drew the crowd but also the stalls showcasing artefacts and different cuisine, adventure games and army stalls. Competitions in various categories held at different venues in Dharwad city also attracted people in large numbers.
“I have been attending National Youth Festivals in my official capacity as nodal officer for at least two decades now. But never have I seen such an overwhelming response to the events held during this Youth Festival. For the first time, we saw stalls exhibiting and selling handicrafts and artefacts run out of stock,” State Director of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan (NYKS) for Maharashtra and Goa Prakash Manure said.
Regional Director for NYKS Shamsundar Joshi concurred with Mr. Manure. The people of the region turned out to be connoisseurs of food and on all the days of the event, they came out in large numbers to taste different delicacies from various States, he said.
In all, 7,500 participants from 28 States and eight Union Territories took part in the National Youth Festival, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hubballi on January 12.
The participants also had so much to speak about their memorable experience in Dharwad, considered the cultural and literary capital of the State. Many of them left Dharwad with a bag full of memorable experiences and of course, with packets of Dharwad Pedha.
In fact, some of them who left Dharwad on Tuesday carried with them many packets of Dharwad Pedha. Some of them said they will stay back in Karnataka to visit some of the tourist attractions, including historic places such as Hampi, and then head to their respective places.
