SINGAPORE - The first youth festival by the People's Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (Mesra) was launched on Saturday (Oct 20), drawing 1,000 young people together to have fun and inspire each other.

The Mesra Youth Festival, held at Wisma Geylang Serai, aims to give participants a platform to showcase their skills like skateboarding and futsal, learn from each other and give back to the community.

Activities during the one-day festival include a charity drive where volunteers gave food rations worth $10,000 to 500 beneficiaries that included orphanages, voluntary welfare organisations and needy residents.

Organising committee member Zulayqha Zulkifli, 24, said: "We are happy to see many youths from diverse backgrounds coming together to volunteer and participate in this festival.

"We hope the young people will gain meaningful insights and experiences from their engagements at the event. It will also provide the peer-to-peer engagements that will inspire young people to step up and make a difference in our community."

Madam Rahayu Mahzam, adviser to Jurong GRC Grassroots Organisations and Mesra Advisory Council member, spoke during a motivational youth talk and an "Unconference Conversations" panel discussion where young people talked about their aspirations and social needs.

The festival was organised by a committee comprising young people from the universities, polytechnics, Institute of Technical Education and the grassroots network.