Hornbill festival 2020 December 1-10 | Download Photos, Images & Quotes

Hornbill festival

Nagaland, in the eastern state of India, is known as the land of festivals. There are many tribes, and each tribe celebrates its festivals with great enthusiasm. To encourage tribal interaction and promote the cultural heritage of Nagaland, each year in the first week of December, the Nagaland government organizes the Hornbill Festival. 

At the festival, all the Naga tribes demonstrate national clothes and jewellery, perform national dances and songs, and participate in wrestling competitions.

Starting from the 12th century, the Naga tribes arrived on the lands of the eastern Himalayas. In anthropological terms, the Naga’s belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group. Now the state has 16 main tribes united by one language, which belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family. 

Even though there is a commonality in language and traditions, tribes live in isolation from each other. Therefore, any festival is an excellent opportunity to communicate with each other in peace and harmony. Naga tribes celebrate their festivals with pleasure and enthusiasm. 

More than 60% of Nagaland's population is dependent on agriculture, and therefore most festivals are dedicated to agricultural cycles. Participation in festivals for Naga representatives is mandatory because the holidays are considered a sacred ceremony, very favourable for the harvest.

Organized by the State Tourism Authority, the Hornbill Festival is usually held in the village of Kokhim. All Nagaland tribes take part in this festival. The festival aims to restore and protect Nagaland's rich culture and show their ancient traditions and customs.

Some amazing facts about this festival are

While Kohima is the capital of Nagaland, the Hornbill Festival venue is the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, somewhere in the range of 12 km south of Kohima. Kisama is an open-air museum that features different parts of Naga's life. 

Nagaland is home to probably the spiciest chillies on the planet, and the Hornbill festival's coordinators conduct competitions. 

One of the most famous competitions conducted during the festival is one that includes eating chillies. Brave participants, including soldiers and officers of the Assam Rifles, line up to eat the most significant number possible, sobbing even as they attempt to exceed the other.



The pork-eating competition is the other increasingly well-known occasion at the festival and one that is progressively heavenly.

Naga wrestling competition is one more top pick. So if gastronomy and music aren't your things, do think about this. 

The Hornbill Festival is turning into a great festival. It is becoming significantly important, as well.  Last year some 1.8 lakh tourists, including 5,000 foreigners, visited this festival and coordinators are hoping for around two lakh this year. It seems this festival made a revenue of Rs 70-100 crore.

Indian citizens will need an Inner Line Permit to enter Nagaland to attend this Hornbill festival.

Some special camp accommodation and homestays are operated during this festival due to a lack of hotels in Kohima city. 

Besides the traditional events, it includes Miss Nagaland Contest, Hornbill National Dance Competition, Hornbill Master Chef Competition, Hornbill International Musical Festival, Hornbill International Rock Contest Hornbill Charity Concert-cum-Ball, North East Cultural Day,  ‘Glocal’ Film Fest, Hornbill Annual Cycle Rally, Hornbill Snooker Championship, Kids Carnival,  Vintage World War II Motor Rally, and many other competitions.

Over 25 bands, including bands from the US, UK, Norway, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia, take part in the Hornbill International Rock Contest, held for four days at the Naga Solidarity Park the Hornbill festival.

Wrapping Up

So if you are interested to experience the rich tradition of India, then you must attend this marvellous Hornbill festival which is held annually in Nagaland. We bet that you will enjoy this Hornbill festival to the core. We hope that you like this article. Cheers!!

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