Hanumakonda Youth Festival Winners Honoured at JNS Stadium

Young artists, poets and performers in Hanumakonda were handed prizes on Thursday as the district-level youth festival wrapped up with a formal award ceremony at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, known locally as JNS. The event was organised by the district youth sports department, and the message from the stage was clear: these competitions are not just about trophies. They are about finding the talent that most people never see.

District youth sports officer Kotha Prashanth was the chief guest. He handed out prizes and certificates to young men and women who had won across several competitions. National youth award recipient Mandala Parasuramulu also spoke at the event and joined officials in congratulating the winners.

What the organisers said

The core argument of the day was simple. Youth festivals exist to draw out the creativity, artistic skill and cultural ability sitting quietly inside young people. Prashanth and Parasuramulu both framed the festival as a platform, not a one-day show.

Youth festivals are very useful for bringing out the creativity, art skills and cultural talent hidden within young people.

That line set the tone for the afternoon. Speakers at the event went further, calling on youth to lead not only in their studies but also in art, sports, social service and leadership. The point was that a well-rounded young person does not stop at marks on a report card.

The winners, competition by competition

The prize list reflected a wide range of talent. In the poetry writing competition, G. Akanksha took first place and N. Vaishnavi came second. In the painting contest, P. Srinika won first prize and D. Vahini finished second.

The street play category was taken by the Kaushal team, which was the only group named for that event in the results. In the folk song group competition, S.K. Khairan won first prize and Kaveri took second. The folk dance group competition was led by the Siri Pournami team in first place, with the Parasuram team finishing second.

Each of these results represents a different form of expression, from written verse to stage performance. Together they show how many areas the festival covered, and how many students took part in them.

Why this matters for Telangana

This is a Telangana story at its most local level. Hanumakonda is a district in the state, and the festival was run by its own youth sports department, using a local stadium and local organisers. The awards went to young people from the district, and the speeches were aimed at the district’s youth as a whole. For families and students in the region, it is a direct example of how state-level youth programmes reach down to the district.

Who was on stage and in the crowd

Apart from the chief guest and the national award recipient, the event was attended by representatives of the department, including Akulapelli Madhu, Mounika and Naeem. Officials from the youth sports department were present, along with several youth association representatives and a large group of young people. Their presence gave the ceremony a community feel, with the winners surrounded by peers who had likely competed in the same events.

The organisers also offered congratulations to every participant who had shown skill during the competitions, not only to those who took home a prize. That recognition matters in events like this, where many young people perform in front of an audience for the first time.

The bigger message

The most striking part of the day was the gap between what the festival promised and what it delivered. The speakers talked about hidden creativity. The stage showed poems, paintings, songs and dances that had been developed by young people who might otherwise never have been asked to show them publicly.

The message to the audience was that talent has to be given a place to appear. Youth festivals, in the officials’ view, are that place. They reward effort in the arts and encourage students to see creativity as a serious part of growing up, alongside sports and academics.

The ceremony ended with applause for the winners and a reminder that the same stage will be there for the next round of young performers and writers. For the students who walked up to collect their certificates on Thursday, that may be the most important takeaway of all.