Hornbill Festival 2023: Date, History, Significance (Nagaland)

Hornbill festival is the India’s longest and most popular music festival celebrated in the state of Nagaland. Almost every tribe of Nagaland takes part in this festival. Other than this, tourists from the country and all over the world come to behold in their eyes the spirit of the Hornbill festival.

Main attraction of the festival includes Naga tribal dances, food, music and folklore. The festival is organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments and usually takes place between 1 and 10 December every year.

The aim behind the celebration of this festival is to revive and protect the rich culture of Nagaland. Owing to its great significance, the Hornbill festival is also referred to as the ‘Festival of Festivals’. Let us learn some more details about Hornbill Festival 2023 such as its date, history, significance, celebrations, etc from this article.

Hornbill Festival 2023 Date

Every year, the Hornbill Festival is celebrated from 1^st of December to 10^th of it and is organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments. In the year 2023 also, the festival will be observed from 1 to 10 December.

The festival will celebrate its 23 years of celebration in the year 2023 and the celebrations become bigger and more entertaining with every passing year.

History of Hornbill Festival Celebration

The Hornbill festival is celebrated at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima. The Music festival and rock contest is now held in nearby Dimapur. The festival was first organized in the year 2000 by the Government of Nagaland to encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland.

The festival is named after the Indian bird Hornbill, which is a large and colorful forest bird displayed in the folklore of most of the state’s tribes.

Significance of Hornbill Festival

Hornbill festival holds great significance for the people of Nagaland as it provides them a way to promote their rich culture and heritage, the ethnic cuisines and other major attractions of their state. This brings tourists from all over the country and the world to Nagaland state who wish to see this grand festival celebration with their own eyes.

This in turn enhances the tourism of the state and supports economy. The people of Nagaland see this festival as a way to revive, protect, sustain and promote the richness of their heritage and traditions. To visitors this festival has a different significance and provides them an opportunity to experience the food, songs, dances and customs of Nagaland.

Celebration of Hornbill Festival

Hornbill festival is mainly dedicated to the different tribes of Nagaland and almost every tribe from the state comes to participate in this festival and showcase the specialty of their tribe. This festival is considered as sacred by the people of Naga tribe and their participation in this festival is essential. Celebrations of Hornbill festival continues for 10 days and is filled with colorful performances, crafts, parades, sports, food fairs, games, religious ceremonies and much more.

Traditional folk songs, traditional dances and indigenous games and sports are the main attractions of the Hornbill festival. Naga Morungs exhibitions, stalls of art & craft items, food stalls, flower shows and sales, traditional songs and dances, fashion shows, traditional archery, Naga wrestling, indigenous games, and musical concert, etc are the other highlights of this festival. Traditional art work which include paintings, wood carvings, sculptures, etc from modern Naga artists are also put on display and for sale.

The greatest attraction is the Hornbill International Rock Festival that is held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium during the Hornbill festival where local as well as international rock bands perform.

Apart from the celebrations and festivities discussed above, there are some additional attractions of this festival as well. These include the following: