Internationally acclaimed annual 10-day Hornbill Festival of Nagaland will be celebrated in a completely virtual mode from December 1. The festival will be telecast through three TV channels.
It will be telecast on NDTV 24×7 at 10.30 am on December 1 and at 12.30 pm on December 5, on Northeast Live at 11.30 am on December 1 and at 3.30 pm on December 3 and on DDK at 5.30 pm on December 1 and at 3 pm on December 4.
It will also be uploaded and made available to viewers on all the social media platforms.
The festival is held in Naga Heritage Village at Kisama near Kohima every year.
Greeting the people on the occasion, chief minister Neiphiu Rio welcomed everyone to the Hornbill Festival, the festival of festivals, which is being commemorated in a virtual mode.
He said the Hornbill Festival is the flagship tourism event of Nagaland and has emerged as an internationally acclaimed global festival.
Rio said the 10-day event, beginning from December 1 every year, is unique and like no other festival anywhere else.
“The festival is a celebration of the Naga tribal way of life, an extravaganza of our rich cultural heritage, that showcases the energy and vibrancy of Naga youth,” he stated.
He said one of Nagaland’s internationally acknowledged intellectual properties, the festival has successfully propelled Nagaland’s emerging soft power into the global stage, where every Naga is a proud stakeholder.
Rio added the Hornbill Festival signifies unity and oneness in all aspects while exemplifying the vast potentials and aspirations of the Naga youth.
Most of the events are conceptualized, curated and implemented by young entrepreneurs, event management groups, innovators and non-government organisations that create a 100 crore plus Hornbill economy which generates more than 8000 jobs and is home to more than 500 events held across six districts of the state.
Stating that the Covid-19 pandemic has created new normals, Rio said the state is accordingly rewriting the tourism script by aligning the industry to the changing dynamics.
Once the world reopens, Nagaland will be prepared with a tourism narrative that is in tune with a post-Covid scenario and that the Naga people will be ready to welcome everyone to this beautiful land, he said.
“Together we will create experiences that will become lifelong memories,” he stated.
Rio wished all the citizens of the state and well-wishers and friends all around the world, a happy “Virtual Hornbill Festival.”
