National Youth Day: 12 January 
National Youth Day, also known as Vivekananda Jayanti, is celebrated on 12 January, being the birthday of Swami Vivekananda. In 1984 the Government of India declared this day as National Youth Day and since 1985 the event is celebrated in India every year.

History

It was a decision of the Government of India taken in 1984 to celebrate the birthday of great Swami Vivekananda, i.e. 12 January, as National Youth Day every year. The Government of India quoted that 'the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth Day. On 12 January 2013, Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told in his address at the inauguration of four-year-long celebrations of Swami Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary.

Celebration and activities

Every year on this occasion, the government organises National Youth Festival in collaboration with one state willing to host from January 12 to January 16.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National Youth Festival  on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.The 26th edition of the festival, which will be held till January 16 at Hubballi-Dharwad, is being organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Government of Karnataka.

According to officials, the festival is held every year to provide exposure to talented youth at the national level, along with galvanising them towards nation building.It brings diverse cultures from all parts of the country on a common platform and unites the participants in the spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat', they said, adding that the theme of this year's festival is 'Viksit Yuva - Viksit Bharat'.

Modi will inaugurate the festival at 4 pm at Railway Sports Ground here, which will be attended by Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Anurag Singh Thakur among others. The PM is scheduled to leave for New Delhi after the inaugural event.More than 30,000 youth are expected to attend the inaugural function where the Prime Minister will share his vision with them.During the five-day event, over 7,500 youth delegates from all over India get together to engage in different learning activities. representatives about how to facilitate student-centric governance.

Adventure sports activities like scuba diving are included.According to an official release, the 26th National Youth Festival will be celebrated as Green Youth Festival where only reusable cutlery, napkins etc will be used. Apart from that, all the mementos, medals and stationery will also be of reusable material. Many events in the festival will be live-streamed across the nation so that crores of young people can also be engaged with the entire festival" it added.

Theme
The theme of the National Youth festival this year is 'Viksit Yuva Viksit Bharat'.