The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Thursday that prerecorded concerts for its 2025 Festival: A Youth Concert are now available online in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
These concerts — prerecorded in Utah, Mexico and Brazil — feature songs from recent “Strive to Be” albums and singles, as well as spiritual messages from the artists themselves.
With these concerts now available, the church is also inviting areas worldwide to host local celebrations where Latter-day Saint youth and friends can gather, sing along and “experience the joy of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.” These celebrations will then constitute the 2025 youth music festival.
Yet, watching the prerecorded concerts is not the only way youth can participate in the festival. According to an event notice on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, this year, youth and adult leaders involved in planning local celebrations may choose to:
- Select one of the prerecorded concerts to watch and sing along,
- Host their own concert using local singers to perform the same songs,
- Or, create their own music event.
In every case, each local celebration held on or after Aug. 7 will form part of the 2025 youth music festival.
To aid in planning, the church has also provided planning resources for all three options, as well as suggestions to help adult leaders counsel with the youth as they plan. Some of these suggestions advise adult leaders to let the youth lead, encourage participation and keep the purpose in mind.
“Music has a unique ability to affect youth,” the church’s suggestions read. “In-person music experiences can be a wonderful way for youth to gather and strengthen their faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”
Other suggestions advise youth and adult leaders to consider the size, location and date of their local celebrations, saying larger gatherings — such as stake or district gatherings — held not on a Sunday may provide the best experience.
Speaking to the nearly 2,000 youth that gathered in Provo on June 11 as the English concert was recorded, Strive to Be artist Benjamin Taylor shared what he felt is the purpose of the 2025 youth music festival.
“This is not about performance,” he said. “This is about our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are his followers, right? We are his disciples. We choose to look to him in every thought. So tonight, we celebrate our faith in him. We celebrate our gratitude, we celebrate our praise. He is the reason why we’re all here.”
Other Strive to Be artists featured in the English concert include Liahona Olayan, James Thorup, Reina Ley, Sister Ellie Barry, Ashley Hess, Pearce Morris, JRay Kuhn, Connor Austin, Rylee Paige, Jay Phung, Hanna Eyre and Patch Crowe.
As for the Spanish concert, that one features Strive to Be artists Naxhieli Mellin Martínez Cruz, Christian Amanda Najera Inzunza, Jacob Abinadi Peralta Dominguez, Claudia Judith Mejía García, Sarai Marlem Barrera Garduño, Katia Noemi Parra Solís, Sandra Arenas Salazar, Sister Ellie Barry, Eylani Melendez Flores, Rodrigo Misael Ortíz Chacón, Ian Shezuaf Ramales Mejia, Alejandra Areli Enciso González and Eidyan Gabriel Medina Jaramillo.
And the Portuguese concert features Strive to Be artists João Daniel, Beatriz Marmelo, Nicole Luz, Gabrielly Lourenço, Patch Crowe, Vinícius Arevallo and Nicholas Shigekiyo.
Youth and others worldwide can access the English, Spanish and Portuguese prerecorded concerts via YouTube and other church sites.
