• Singer Vijay Prakash, actress Sapthami Gowda add glitter
• 8-day event to be held at Kuvempu Open Air Theatre till Oct. 5

Mysuru: The opening day of ‘Yuva Sambhrama-2026’ witnessed youths gathered dancing to the tunes of some of the popular songs as the students from various colleges performed on stage at the Kuvempu Open Air Theatre in Manasagangothri premises yesterday.

The 8-day event will be held between 4.30 pm and 10 pm till Oct. 5 and the grand finale will be held on Oct. 7

Singer Vijay Prakash and actress Sapthami Gowda entertaining the gathering during the inaugural of Yuva Sambhrama-2026 yesterday.

Students performed to songs that promoted culture and tradition of Karnataka. The Yuva Sambhrama Sub-Committee had also installed LED screens at various points for the spectators to view the performances.

Youngsters were also treated with melodious songs by singer Vijay Prakash as part of the inaugural event. He sung some of his popular songs including ‘Singara Siriye…’ from Kantara, ‘Belageddu Yaara Mukhava Naanu Nodide…’ from Kirik Party, ‘Jai Ho…’ from Slum Dog Millionaire and ‘Bombe Helutaite…’ from  Rajakumara much to joy of the audience.

Later, addressing the audience, actress Sapthami Gowda thanked the people of Mysuru for running a campaign to bring back ‘Abhimanyu’ for this year’s Dasara. She also welcomed the decision to name ‘Abhimanyu’ as the ‘Nishane Aane’ as a befitting farewell to the elephant that had carried the Golden Howdah for six consecutive years.

Yesterday, a total of 19 colleges performed to various songs with different themes including art & culture, patriotism among others from 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm.

Earlier, District Minister Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah inaugurated the event. MLAs Tanveer Sait, G.T. Devegowda, Anil Chikkamadu, K. Harishgowda, Karnataka Exhibition Authority Chairman Ayub Khan, State Guarantee Scheme Implementation Authority Vice-Chairperson Dr. Pushpa Amarnath, DC G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, ADC R. Aishwarya, ZP CEO S. Ukesh Kumar, SP Mallikarjun Baladandi and City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar were present.