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The National Youth Festival (NYF), organized annually since 1995 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on 12th January, serves as a flagship platform to unite youth from diverse cultural and social backgrounds, fostering national integration and empowerment. In the year 2025, the festival was restructured as the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue (VBYLD) in alignment with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.

Building on this success, the 29th NYF-VBYLD-2026 will be organised by the Ministry with the objective of engaging the youth aged between 15 to 29 years.

Competitions will be held under the following 4 tracks for selection of contingents of States and UTs for participation in the NYF-VBYLD-2026 to be held in January,2026 in New Delhi:

  1. Cultural and Innovation Track
  2. Viksit Bharat Challenge Track
  3. Design for Bharat
  4. Hack for social cause

The District-level activities will commence on 1st September, 2025 with competitions under the Cultural and Innovation tracks, continuing through State-level competitions in November and December, 2025 and culminating in the National Youth Festival in January 2026 in New Delhi.

Target Group and Eligibility for participation VBYLD-2026
Youth in the age group of 15-29 years (as on 1st September, 2025) would be eligible for participation in various tracks of VBYLD-2026.

The details of various tracks of VBYLD-2026 are as follows:

Event track Activities Level Timeline
Cultural and Innovation Track
  1. Declamation
  2. Story writing
  3. Painting
  4. Folk dance
  5. Folk Song
  6. Poetry Writing
  7. Innovation (Exhibition of Science Mela)
 District level 1st Sept. – 31st Oct. 2025
State level 10th Nov. – 1st Dec. 2025
Viksit Bharat Challenge

Themes:
  1. Youth for healthy lifestyle
  2. Nasha Mukt Yuva
  3. Making Bharat Atmanirbhar in Every Sector
  4. Women in Leadership: Catalysts for Change
  5. Skilling Youth for the Jobs of Tomorrow
  6. Youth-Led Governance and Participatory Democracy
  7. India @100: A Roadmap to Inclusive Growth
  8. Climate-Resilient India: Youth as Change Agents
 Stage – I
Viksit Bharat Quiz (Digital)
Quiz is Live Now!
Participate Now
1st Sept. – 31st Oct. 2025
Stage – II
Viksit Bharat Essay Challenge (Digital)		 3rd Nov. – 15th Nov. 2025
Stage – III
Viksit Bharat PPT Challenge (in person)		 24th Nov. – 8th Dec. 2025
Stage – IV
Viksit Bharat Championship at NYF in New Delhi		 10th Jan. – 12th Jan. 2026
Design for Bharat - Youth Innovation Challenge
Participate Now

This competition invites young innovators to bring bold ideas that create social impact and meaningful innovation. Your creativity can make a difference in the key challenges shaping our nation:

  1. Health, Wellness & Mental Health
  2. Education & Learning
  3. Connectivity & Transport
  4. Agriculture
  5. Sports & Hobbies
  6. Safety & Protection
  7. Sustainability

Winning entries will be felicitated at the State Level. They will further receive guidance and mentoring from design experts to be showcased at a National Level Exhibition, providing a platform for visibility, dialogue and further development.

Know More
State Level Competition
Call for Entries October 16, 2025
Last date for Submission November 10, 2025
Declaration of State Level Results November 15, 2025
State Level Award ceremony November 21-24, 2025
National Level Showcase
National Level Mentoring (online) December 15-30, 2025
National Level Mentoring (in-person) January 10-11, 2026
National Level Judging January 12, 2026
National Showcase & Award Ceremony January 12, 2026

The details of ‘Design for Bharat’ and ‘Hack for social cause’ tracks and timelines will be announced separately.