Hornbill Festival and Tourism Imperatives

The festive season is here with the much-awaited annual Hornbill Festival set to commence before the Christmas season, and followed by the New Year. Of all the events being celebrated in Nagaland, Hornbill Festival, which is dubbed the “Festival of festivals” of the state, has the most global appeal with the number of visitors, both domestic and international, swelling over the years. The crowd will grow bigger and there will come a time when the main venue will become too small to accommodate visitors. This is not unrealistic as communication systems are expected to improve and even strangers are being introduced to the state, thanks to the internet. The festival has already received good traction from people around the world, boosting the tourism industry in the state.

Irrespective of the argument by some that the state’s government should spend on infrastructure and developmental activities rather than on festivals, the amount of publicity Nagaland gets from the Hornbill Festival is humongous and perhaps the single most popular event that has helped build connection with strangers and those who don’t know much about the state as well as the local population.

This fact is indisputable because there are many people including those from mainland India who relate to the state through the Hornbill Festival. When it comes to expenditure, it is important to know that investment is imperative for good returns, revenue generation or promotion of tourism for that matter. The unaccounted revenue that the state earns from the lakhs of visitors is said to be much more than the money spent, according to government officials. It is something that is expected when the number of tourists increases although the chief purpose of holding the event is to showcase the Naga culture to the outside world.

The Hornbill Festival is unique in the fact that visitors get the opportunity to experience so much about the Nagas, from culture to costumes to ancestral architecture, in 10 days at one particular venue. The Naga culture is rich with almost all the tribes having their specialties, including cultural attires, traditions, dances and folk songs despite sharing a common link and shades of similarities.

For those interested in learning and knowing more about the Nagas, there can’t be a better time than the Hornbill Festival to experience the rich Naga culture in its rawness. There are not many festivals in the world where tourists can experience the culture of a particular place or community in almost its entirety, but the Hornbill Festival offers almost everything about the state in terms of culture and traditional practices. However, tourism often has an undertone of law and order situation, politics and hospitality of the local people, no matter how beautiful a place is. This is why war-torn regions do not attract many tourists. Peace and tranquillity is a prerequisite for the tourism industry to grow. So, Nagaland should provide a safe environment for visitors and not just showcase its rich culture during the upcoming Hornbill Festival and the days thereafter. Besides, security agencies of the state, the public should be vigilant, and assist those in need of help, stand for justice and ensure that every single person visiting the state is not harassed. Only then the tourism industry in the state will grow and the “festivals of festival” will have a meaning.