New Delhi: Nagaland’s annual Hornbill Festival is set to get bigger this year as it opened Sunday with a new global partner and a mantra of zero-waste.
Airbnb has partnered with Nagaland’s signature cultural event for the first time, a pact that organisers say can boost the state’s tourism potential in a big way.
The Hornbill festival is also known as the ‘Festival of Festivals’ and is held for a period of 10 days. Named after the hornbill bird, this festival symbolises ‘Respect and ‘Folklore’ among Nagas.
“Nagaland is a treasure trove of tourism, offering a plethora of unique experiences and Airbnb’s global platform will augment the tourist growth rate,” said Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland. “As our official accommodation partner for Hornbill Festival, we look forward to working with Airbnb to welcome more international and domestic tourists to Nagaland.”
Primary elements of the partnership between the company and the tourism department include skill development workshops, promotion of festivals and creating a regulatory environment for home sharing in the state.
He added that through the partnership with Airbnb, the state government seeks to increase inclusiveness in the state’s tourism sector, in order to empower the indigneous local communities by building a sustainable homestay ecosystem.
Khehovi Yepthomi, advisor, Tourism department, said that the government intends to promote the local entrepreneurs through the MoU with Airbnb.
Chris Lehane of Airbnb said the company hopes to empower “local hospitality micro-entrepreneurs”.
Hornbill 2019 to be a Zero waste event
The state has declared that Hornbill 2019 will be a zero waste event and has called for a reduction of single-use plastic bottles, utensils and bags. In the coordination meeting held in Kohima to discuss the events, L.H. Thangi Mannen, Convenor of Zero Waste Himalayan, Nagaland (ZWHN), said that they will not allow plastic decorations, flex banners and volunteer identity cards either.
The Hornbill festival is held in two districts — a music festival in Dimapur and cultural events in Kohima.
Tagged as the “Experiential Festival”, the Hornbill music fest is one of the country’s biggest. Over 50 bands from across India and international bands from Hungary, Thailand and Indonesia and more than 100 musicians will perform this year.
Casio, Mahindra, Rollingstones India, RedFM 93.5, Epiphone, Gaana are sponsors for the music fest organised by Livenow Events at Agri Expo, 4th Mile Dimapur.
The Hornbill Cultural festival held in the Naga Heritage village of Kisama, 12 km from Kohima, includes various sports & games, fashion shows, beauty competitions and bamboo carnivals.
Additionally, traditional archery, Naga wrestling, exhibitions of traditional art, paintings and sculptures and a lavish food affair hosted by around 17 Naga tribes will be witnessed at the festival.
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