Festival 2025: A Youth Concert is a worldwide music celebration where youth are invited to experience the joy of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Festival 2025 is designed to be held any time on or after August 7, at a day and time that best fits local needs and schedules. Youth ages 14–18 are encouraged to participate, though local leaders may choose to include younger youth. Larger gatherings (such as a stake gathering) may provide the best experience for this event.

There are three ways to experience Festival 2025:

• Watch and Sing Along—Participate in one of our prerecorded concerts. These concerts will be published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese on Thursday, August 7. Each of these language versions is a unique event featuring songs from recent Strive to Be albums and singles.
• Reimagine—Put on your own concert using local singers to perform the same songs featured in the prerecorded concert.
• Create—Create your own music event that provides youth an opportunity to gather together and celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ.

Planning resources for all three options—including suggestions and tools—are available in the Youth section of the Gospel Library and at youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

The prerecorded concerts will be available on:

• Youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org (English, Spanish, Portuguese)
• Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org (English, Spanish, Portuguese)
• Strive to Be YouTube channel (English)
• Jóvenes de La Iglesia de Jesucristo YouTube channel (Spanish)
• Jovens da Igreja de Jesus Cristo YouTube channel (Portuguese)

Suggestions for Planning

 
Festival 2025: A Youth Concert is an opportunity for youth to gather and strengthen their discipleship of Jesus Christ. “Youth should lead out in planning and carrying out” activities like Festival 2025 (General Handbook, 29.3.9). The following suggestions may be helpful as adult leaders counsel with youth:

• Keep the purpose in mind. Music has a unique ability to affect youth. In-person music experiences can be a wonderful way for youth to gather and strengthen their faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. For your event, choose activities and music that will inspire youth to follow Jesus Christ. These are also great opportunities to demonstrate how youth can worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through music. During the planning and performance of the concert, consider how each part will contribute to increasing faith in the Savior.
• Let youth lead. Where possible, invite the stake youth leadership committee or other youth leaders to lead in planning and carrying out the event.
• Encourage participation. In-person participation and engagement by youth are essential for a successful music worship experience. Youth are encouraged to become familiar with selected songs before the event. These songs can be found at youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Encourage youth to invite friends of other faiths to sing, celebrate, and worship Jesus Christ together with you. Youth should feel welcomed and encouraged to sing along with songs (providing lyrics on a screen and ensuring the volume of the music is sufficiently loud can help encourage participation). Singing together fosters a sense of community and belonging, allowing youth to express themselves freely and joyfully.
• Consider size. Consider whether to gather as a stake or district or with multiple stakes or districts. Larger gatherings may provide the best experience for this event.
• Consider location and date. Due to the celebratory style of the music and the hope of youth participation, it may work better to meet in an outdoor location or a large gathering place and not on a Sunday. This event could be a great activity as part of a youth conference, camp, or other stake or district activity.