Hornbill Festival: Nagaland’s biggest tourism fair, a window to the state
The festival has over the years hosted the country’s top political dignitaries including the president.
The Hornbill Festival, Nagaland’s iconic cultural and tourism fair that is annually held from December 1 to 10, has evolved into a celebration showcasing the diverse and vibrant cultural and traditional heritage of the tribes of Nagaland.
In its 25th year, the festival was conceived at a time when the state was slowly returning to normalcy, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the Naga armed group Isak-Muivah-led National Socialist Council of Nagalim and the Centre, after having been through insurgency for over five decades.
The long-drawn insurgency had not only hit normal life with daily hours of curfew across the state, it had also badly impacted tourism.
“A few of us traveled with the then chief minister of Nagaland SC Jamir to international tourism events and Nagaland was not known anywhere,” recalled Thangi Mannen, former state tourism secretary. She said the festival idea was conceived as an event to promote the cultural richness of Nagaland. Jamir saw it as an event with the potential to become a “window to Nagaland”.
The festival was named after the Hornbill bird given its association with the socio-cultural life of the Nagas through folklore, dances, songs, and usage of the magnificent bird’s feather as motifs on ceremonial attires and men’s headgear.
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In the first few years, the festival was a five-day event held at Khouchiezie, a fair ground in the heart of the state capital Kohima. The state government acquired a plot of land from the southern Angami villages of Kigwema and Phesama, located about 10 km from Kohima, and turned it into the main venue for the growing event in 2003.
The picturesque sloping hillock was named the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, a combination of the two donor villages. Tribal morungs (huts) of all the 17 recognised tribes were constructed at the venue, each placed strategically that altogether they represent the shape of the map of Nagaland. After the festival was shifted to Kisama, the government extended the festival duration to seven days. Over the years, the festival became popular, attracting visitors from different districts, states as well as foreign tourists, prompting a further extension of the festival to 10 days.
The annual carnival is often called the “festival of festivals” in the northeastern state. It marks the culmination of all the Naga tribal festivals held according to the state’s rural calendar, providing a closer look at the Naga culture and way of life. It promotes the diverse Naga ethnicity and brand Nagaland through traditional art, food, dances, music, tribal rituals and indigenous games, crafts, highlighting Naga textiles and designs.
The festival now attracts tourists from across India and abroad; In 2023, the state tourism department recorded 1.5 lakh footfalls. The state government invests ₹5-6 crores every year on the festival. According to an independent study, a Report on Economic Assessment of Hornbill Festival, the Hornbill Festival in 2023 generated approximately ₹131 crore. The state government has approved ₹100 crore to upgrade infrastructure in Kisama for 2024-25.
The festival has over the years hosted the country’s top political dignitaries including the president and the prime minister of India, foreign diplomats as also film stars. The ongoing edition is showcasing a collaborative cultural experience with the US, UK, Japan and Peru as international partners while Sikkim and Telangana are the partner states.