2025 Dakar en Jeux Festival: Preview and schedule for final edition marking a year to go until 2026 Youth Olympics

For the next five days, Dakar en Jeux will bring together some of the world's most talented young futsal players, as well as many of Senegal's most prominent social figures, to Dakar, Diamnadio, and Saly.

There are workshops, sporting events, and thrilling cultural activities planned for the fourth and final edition of Dakar en Jeux*, the* annual cultural and sports festival that has become a central feature of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games engagement programme. The 2025 edition begins on Tuesday, November 4, and runs through to Sunday.

The main event this year is an international FIFA Futsal U15 tournament at the Dakar Arena. This will be a good practice run for the Organisers of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, preparing to host 2,700 of the top young athletes from around the world, ages 17 and under, to compete in the historic Games from October 31 to November 13 next year.

Find out more about the Dakar en Jeux sports programme, cultural, and festival activities below.

Why Futsal will take centre stage in Senegal

The Sports Programme at Diamnadio

The main sporting event at this year’s Dakar en Jeux is the international FIFA Futsal U15 category competition at the Dakar Arena in Diamnadio.

Five men's and five women’s teams will compete in the tournament, which takes place from November 6 to 9.

Futsal was first included in an Olympic event at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, replacing the 11-a-side football contested at Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014.

The cultural and sports initiation programmes in Dakar and Saly

The cultural program of Dakar en Jeux will be a thrilling and vibrant experience, according to the organisers, infusing music, sports initiations, fashion shows, and music concerts.

As in the previous three editions, festivalgoers will have the opportunity to try out various sports under the Fitness Géant in Saly on Saturday, 8 November.

Also making a return will be the Impact Spark programme, developed by the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee in collaboration with the Lausanne-based association, SPARK/innov-action, that aims to combat health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles and encourage positive habits among young people through an engaging, sport-centred approach.

Designed for 14-to-18-year-olds, Impact Spark focuses on health challenges such as oral hygiene, malaria prevention, addiction awareness, and mental wellbeing.

Supported by experts from the University Hospital (CHUV) in Lausanne, the programme connects health education with physical activity, emphasising the powerful role that sport can play in promoting individual and community wellbeing.

The other standout events, which are expected to draw big crowds, are the mini concerts and fashion shows at Dakar TER Station. Fashion is deeply entangled with Senegalese culture and heritage, and the organisers have invited some established and rising local designers from innovative spaces like Kamal Raw, Thiane.SN, Mos, ZeyAfrica, Lesly Mac, and Meissa Biguey.

They will showcase their works to the public until Friday, 7 November.

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