Tourism and Higher Education minister Temjen Imna Along on Friday said that preparations were on full swing to hold the Hornbill Festival 2023 in a grand manner at the Naga Heritage, Kisama in the run-up to the silver jubilee edition next year.
Addressing the media at Kisama, Along said that all the 17 tribes of Nagaland would be participating in the 24th Hornbill Festival, 2023. He said the festival would return to its earlier glory, especially with the announcement of Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation to join the festival. Along thanked the “eastern brothers” for coming forward and exhibiting the spirit of Naga unity despite its earlier decision to abstain from the festival.
He said the mega festival would witness traditional, cultural and contemporary Naga way of life, adding that the state would witness a record number of foreign diplomats during the 10-day cultural extravaganza. He disclosed that the state was collaborating with Colombia, Germany and the United States as partner countries in this year’s Hornbill Festival.
He said over 800 national, international and local musicians were expected to share the stage at this year’s mega festival.
Along also disclosed that chief minister Neiphiu Rio held a final consultative meeting with stakeholders and line departments at Kisama on Friday during which he expressed his appreciation with the ongoing preparations for the festival.
Asked how Nagaland was benefiting by the visit of a large number of foreign diplomats to the state, Along replied that the sense of alienation among the people was disappearing through the festival, which had exposed Nagaland to the world and helped the state make a mark in the global tourism map.
According to him, interactions during the festival with foreign delegates had also opened doors for the government to partner with foreign countries in various sectors over the years.
Along observed that the Hornbill Festival had been making it easier for the global community to understand the Naga people and their way of life.
He shared the state government’s vision for making Kisama Heritage Village a “truly heritage village”.
Asked how the government planned to achieve the vision, he explained that the morungs were not just about food or drinks, but about the uniqueness of each tribal community. He said the participants would be encouraged to introduce their respective tribes to visitors through informative reading materials.
A Tourism department official revealed that a Mithun show and local pig exhibition would be organised for the visitors at one of the many arenas at the heritage village.
As per the official, the last year’s expenditure by the department was estimated at Rs 5.5 crore while a report on the festival by a research team of the Kohima Science College students revealed that a revenue of around Rs 109 crore was generated from the festival.
Along said a proper analysis would be done by the department on the expenses for this year’s festival and the revenue generated.
He assured that the state government would put into place mechanisms to monitor prices of food items that were usually found exorbitant during the annual event.
While about 1,40,200 footfalls, including local, domestic and international tourists, were recorded last year, he said the government was hopeful that the number would increase this year.