National Youth Week: 1,050 young people expected in Thiès from March 29 to April 3, 2026

This year, Thiès will be honored to host National Youth Week. The rail capital will host, from March 30 to April 3, 2026, this major meeting of Senegalese youth.

There will be 1,050 young people, from the 14 regions of the country, to come and commune and compete during the National Youth Week (SNJ) 2026, planned in Thiès. Coming yesterday to chair the Regional Development Committee (Crd) devoted to preparations, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Khady Diène Gaye, justified the choice of Thiès by “the artistic, cultural and sporting dynamism of the city, but also by the civic and patriotic commitment of its youth”.

She added that beyond the relaunch of a flagship activity, this edition reflects the desire of the Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to strengthen inclusion, citizen participation and the socio-economic development of young people. The particularity of this 2026 edition lies in its historical anchoring with the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Placed under the theme “Youth Week to the rhythm of Olympism”, the event aims to mobilize young people around the Olympic values: self-sacrifice, surpassing oneself and respect for otherness. However, the minister insisted on the importance of an anticipatory and proactive approach, a guarantee of success. She thus urged stakeholders to deal diligently and rigorously with logistics issues: reception, accommodation, hygiene, security, health coverage and internal transport.

The competition program includes the arts (poetry, slam, theater, visual arts) and sports, with wrestling, urban sports (3×3 basketball, 5-a-side mini-football) as well as mind games (budding genius, scrabble). Digital innovation and local culinary arts will also be in the spotlight. Finally, this youth week will offer demonstrations of skateboarding and martial arts (karate, judo, kung-fu, taekwondo).