Youngsters take part in the festival in Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 10: The annual Gloryfest, a platform for the youth to showcase their talent, is on in Puri.

The festival, which began on Wednesday, is dedicated to legendary youth icon Swami Vivekananda. The valedictory ceremony of the event will take place on January 12, his birth anniversary.

The five-day fest features competitions for youngsters from colleges and universities across the country. As many as 21 types of contests are part of the festival including debate, extempore, group discussion in Hindi, Odia and English, singing in light vocal, folk and recorded dance. A ramp-walking contest for girls is also part of the fest.

“Participants may compete in more than one segment and the more contests they take part in, the better their chances of getting an award for the overall performance. For female contestants, ramp walk points will be added to their overall scores and the winner with highest score will be given the title of Glory Queen,” said organiser Rajesh Mohanty.

The festival, which entered its 19th edition this year, has attracted youth from all over the country. About 400 participants from 24 colleges and varsities have come down to Puri to make new friends and display their talent.

“We have participants from over 10 states this time,” said Mohanty.

The participants are extremely excited about the performances. “My friends and I have already choreographed our folk dance performance. We are also eager to watch the other performances,” said Shweta, a participant from Delhi.

A seminar on the theme “The Youth and the Vedanta: Swami Vivekananda’s Views”, in collaboration with Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Delhi, was hosted on Thursday. Nearly a hundred lecturers and professors took part in the event.

Apart from award ceremony, the highlight of the concluding evening would be a musical night where Sonu Nigam’s little sister, Teesha, will perform along with musical television reality show artiste Aman Trikha. While all the contests are being hosted at Poura Sadan, the events on the last two days will take place on the Golden Sea Beach.