By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: Thousands of delegates from various parts of the country have arrived to participate in the five day long 15th National Youth Festival which would begin at Orissa capital Friday, officials said.
More than 5,000 policemen and hundreds of government officials have been deployed by the state government to make the event a grand success.
“Preparations for the festival are almost complete. More than 3,000 participants have already arrived by today (Thursday) evening,” P.K. Jena, a member of the festival organising committee, told IANS.
The festival will be inaugurated by union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister M.S. Gill.
At least 4,000 youths from all the states and union territories will compete in about 17 categories of cultural competitions in classical, semi-classical and folk arts during the event at Kalinga Stadium here.
Stars like Usha Uthup, Hans Raj Hans and Babul Supriyo, actor Suniel Shetty and Olympic medal winning wrestler Vijender Singh would also participate in the festivities.
“Some more participants are likely to arrive today (Thursday) night or tomorrow (Friday) morning,” Jena said.
The National Youth Festival is organised every year in January to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on Jan 12.