Sports Correspondent

The logo unveiling ceremony of youth festival and the unmasking of mascot for the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20, 2025 was held at a city today.

With the theme of 'Change the country, change the world', the youth festival will be held across the country, starting with the BPL inauguration on December 30. The festival will conclude on February 19 with the final of the SAFF Women's Championship in Dhaka.

Sporting events, cultural shows and concerts across the country will mark the Youth Festival.

Sports adviser Asif Mahmud, BCB president Faruque Ahmed, BFF President Tabith Awal, interim government's representatives along with a host of dignitaries were present during the ceremony.

The event was also attended by the captains of the national women's and men's teams, Nigar Sultana Joty and Najmul Hossain Shanto. Senior cricketers - Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Kaiser Hamid, Hemant Vincent, Topu Barman, Mabia Akhter Simanto and Jobera Rahman Linu were also present.

The organizers are going to involve students in this event.

Attendees observed one-minute silence in remembrance of the July Martyrs during the ceremony, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in association with the Bangladesh Cricket Board. In addition, a documentary about the July uprising was also screened during the ceremony.

"The youth festival is going to be organized with the theme 'Change the country, change the world' in mind to transform the grief of the July mass uprising into strength. We always want to remember the martyrs of the mass uprising in happiness, sorrow, joy, and pain and work," Sports Adviser said.

"Sports unite us. Especially, cricket unites us. No matter how many differences there are in different fields, we unite in sports. One of the objectives of this youth festival is to move forward in line with the rebuilding the country and state reforms while maintaining national unity. The youth festival is going to be held across the country."

He thanked professor Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser of the interim government, for his direct involvement in making this event a success.

Several ministries are involved to make the festival a grand success.

During the BPL, the spectators will get free water at the 'Shaheed Mughdha Corner'. They can also voluntarily donate to the July Foundation through the QR code there. There will be a 'zero-waste' zone at each venue to raise awareness about environment and recycling. BCB is also trying to arrange for all BPL tickets to be sold online to reduce the suffering of spectators.

Three concerts will be organized under the name 'Music Fest' in the three BPL venues of Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet. During the BPL, eight boys' and eight girls' football matches will be organized every Friday and Saturday. In addition, the 'Under-15 National Cup' will be organized.

There are plans to organize debate competitions, quiz competitions, inter-school and college competitions, essay competitions, skill competitions and a July-36 painting competition to explore talent from the grassroots level.

The BPL will have a trophy tour, for the first time in its history. The mascot Dana-36 will add extra colour in this tour.

The 'Dana 36' mascot - a 'white dove' with spread wings or fan, which is a symbol of peace with a total of 36 colorful feathers-- 18 on each side-- represents the unforgettable memory of the July uprising that ended on August 5 (called as July 36) following the ouster of autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina.

"If we can spread this festival across the country, that will embody our concept this time. We aim to engage the youth and have already taken several steps that are unprecedented. The extent of its success will become clearer as we progress, but this is just the beginning," BCB president Faruque Ahmed said.