EMN
Dimapur, December 6
The sixth day of the ongoing Hornbill Festival continued with a set of exciting events that had everything from rock bands to tribal songs, traditional dance performances to food – and pork, of course.Revelers get high at meat-kicking
Besides cultural performances from various tribal troupes from various districts and villages on the sixth day of the festival, an indigenous ‘meat kicking’ competition was the special attraction of the day’s list of events in Naga heritage village Kisama.
It is one amongst the few new activities added as part of the Hornbill Festival this year under the aegis of department of Youth Resources and Sports. It was amazing to witness the youths participating in the competition. The competition involved kicking with two feet a piece of meat, about 5 kilograms, hung on a bamboo. Three of the contestants managed to strike the meat hung at a height of 8.7 feet. Ultimately it was the shortest of the finalists, AC Melon Momein, from the Kachari tribe who won. He won a cash prize of Rs. 15,000.
Muwabang from the Sangtam Naga tribe and Bhimsen Mech from the Kachari tribe bagged the second and third position, in that order, to receive Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 5, 000 respectively. Giving away the award, Minister Pangteang who also witnessed the competition stated that the competition was one of the most attractive competitions in the festival. However, the competition was “also very dangerous as the competitors fall directly on the ground”, and could potentially cause severe injury.
The minister therefore suggested that some soft protective materials should be utilized to prevent injury on the competitors. The organizers have assured to address the problem in the future events.
Masterchef takes
to 4th round
Cooking competition, the Hornbill Masterchef, entered its 4th round on the 6th day of the festival in Naga Heritage village Kisama in Kohima. The Masterchef will be chosen based on the performance of the chefs from the preceding rounds. The dish for the day was themed on Chang Naga food (Nyaknyulum festival). The Hornbill Masterchef competition is jointly organized by Synergy group enterprise and Niathu Administration which is supported by Nagaland Tourism department. Kigomchube Heraang’s creation was declared the dish of the day.
Ultimate Hornbill choir competition
The ‘Ultimate Hornbill Choir Competition’ under the banner of ‘Let the music speak’ was held on 5th December 2013 at the Regional Centre for Excellence for music and performing Arts, Thursday evening at Jotsoma village initiated by Music Task Force in collaboration with local group Unlock Production.
The choir team, Chakhesang Baptist Church Choir Dimapur, Seven Tone Choir Kohima, Sumi Baptist Church Choir Kohima, and Voices of Hope Dimapur, participated in the competition. In the ultimate Hornbill Choir Competition Voices of Hope Dimapur stood in the first position and walk away with the title of Hornbill choir 2013, with a token of Rs. one lakh cheque. Chakhesang Baptist Church choir Dimapur was adjudged second prize winners. They also received the title of for ‘best uniform’. The conductor of Seven Tone Choir of Kohima was given the title of ‘best conductor’ in the competition.
Special musical performances was given by the Lighthouse Band and Symphony School of Music in between the competition round 1and 2 .
Parikrama rocks
Kohima
With Parikrama in performance there was no a dull moment as the Indian rock group performed at the Naga Solidarity Park in Kohima town. Parikrama performed originals such as ‘Vapour Eyes’, ‘But it Rained’ and ‘Whisky Blues.’ Apart from playing originals, they also performed played songs from The Who and AC/DC. The request for the all time hit ‘But it Rained’ did not go unheard as the band performed the song twice, an acoustic version by Nitin Malik, the lead vocalist.
The song was played towards the end of show with the full band. Parikrama is a rock and roll band from Delhi who have thousands of live performances and original numbers to their name in the country and cosndiered one of the pioneering rock bands in the Indian music circuit.
The band was officially formed on June 17, 1991 in Delhi and has performed over 2500 concerts in India as well as internationally. Prarikarma performed as part of the ongoing Hornbill Festival.
