Bhubaneshwar, Dec 24 : Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, unveiled the mascot “Gori”of the 15th National Youth Festival here on Thursday.

It is Gori, an albino crocodile, which will welcome the guests of youth festival which will be held from January 08 to 12, 2010.

Gori, a 34-year-old rare white crocodile, which was reared and bred in Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, was chosen as mascot to promote wildlife conservation.

To encourage more youth participation in the festival, cultural artistes and popular singers such as Usha Uthap, Hans Raj Hans and Babul Supriyo have been roped in to perform at the fest.

"The performances will be held at 12 venues. Out of them, five will be auditoriums and seven will be open-air auditoriums. Also, to engage the youth, we have arranged star performance nights for them,” said P K Mohapatra, Commissioner and Secretary of Sports and Youth Services

“On 9 January 2010, there will be a performance by famous Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans and on 10th there will be performance by Babul Supriyo, and on the 11th Usha Uthap will perform,” he added.

Mohapatra also informed that comic-poet Surendra Sharma is coming to Bhubneswar for his performance. Along with them, five northeastern rock band groups will also give a performance. Cultural groups from 35 states and union territories will perform, as well.

The festival is considered one of the biggest youth congregations in Orissa state. The theme of the forthcoming festival is ''Celebrating Diversity''.

Young representatives from across the country will exhibit their talent in various fields, including music, dance and drama. The festival is organized jointly by the Government of Orissa and the Centre. (ANI)