The young people have spoken and Wollongong City Council has listened, with live music, skating and dance parties highlighting National Youth Week activities in the city.

Youth triumphed over age when the council kicked off its program for the week with the annual Wollongong Lord Mayor's Great Debate of the Ages.

They will take centre stage again this Saturday with the Rock Fest event at the Wollongong Youth Centre in Burelli Street.

Wollongong youth services co-ordinator Toby Schaeffer-Darling said six bands, including well known Illawarra outfit Kaleidoscope, will perform during the April 11 event running from noon to 4pm.

"This is an event which we started after some young people passionate about rock music approached us," he said.

"It Starts with Us is the theme of the week . . . and this event is one way we have for a long time been engaging young people directly in the planning and delivery of our program to make it more meaningful and relevant to them.

"Our closing event, the Blue Light Dance Party at Wollongong Town Hall on April 18 from 7-10pm, is also on the program because. . . that's what they wanted."

Mr Schaeffer-Darling said Wheels at Holborn on April 15, was another new event on the calendar.

"We (council) and the residents of Berkeley are very lucky in many respects to have such a beautiful skate park and facility. This event is a great opportunity from our perspective to highlight this fantastic facility. We are going to have some music, some skating, some demonstrations, as well as workshops with professional young female skaters from 1pm to 4pm."

A games day in Crown Street Mall on April 14 (noon-3pm) and the return of the Globe Lane Art Markets on April 16 (4-8pm) are also part of the city's National Youth Week (April 10-19) free festivities.