Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 20: Thuwu-ni festival (Sumi Naga for ‘to progress’ or ‘to grow’) will celebrate the indigenous Sumi way of life when the festivities start in Pughoboto, a subdivision of Zunheboto district.
According to the organisers, the fourth edition of the festival will ‘promote, preserve and sustain traditional culture and identity.’ It will work to generate opportunities to villagers by providing market and channels of network, according to updates.
The three-day festival is scheduled to be held from Nov. 15 to the 17th. It will be inaugurated by the governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya.
Musik-A, the organising group addressed a press conference at Hope Cafe at Duncan Basti in Dimapur on Sat. Oct. 20.
Thuwu-ni festival has a theme to it: “Celebrating indigenous lifestyle.” It was started in 2014 in Pughoboto. It envisages showcasing indigenous culture, promotion of
indigenous games and sports, adventure sports, and farmers’ market and a music festival.
The festival also provides a combined integrated platform for local art, market for agriculture produce, and tourism besides ‘exposure to new ideas and opportunities for the local villagers.’
“There has been positive enlightenment and uplift of the people from the Pughaboto area towards improvement in productivity, social progress and economic growth,” one of the organisers said.
The three-day festival that will feature an indigenous games and sports “Olympics” that offers a prize money of INR 2.5 lakh; a Thuwuni music Festival; and Aphuyemi—a cooking competition where 24 villages of Pughoboto area will be participating.
Aphuyemi will also introduce the idea of ‘earning morning which will be generated for the competition prize money.’ Another event is the Akikit championship (‘last man standing’), also an indigenous game of the Sumi community. Registration to the event’s competitions is free.
The organisers said that the festival was all about providing market and network for rural agriculture produce, and handloom and handicraft.
It will provide a rural tourism experience for tourists too, besides generating livelihood opportunities for the villagers of the area, and “promote, preserve and sustain traditional culture.”
The organisers of Thuwuni festival assured to strive to mitigate any ‘impact on the environment.’ For instance, the festival will be a ‘plastic-free festival’ by introducing bamboo mugs and bins.
A ‘recycling race,’ which is a competition to clean a designated area, and an award for “clean village” with prize money of INR 5 lakh, will be some of the other features of the event. The festival will commence with a ‘Swachh Bharat Marathon,’ the organisers said.
Another noteworthy feature to the event is a “cashless service”— guests need to buy coupons from the box office before entering the venue and with them, pay for all the services at the festival.
‘All purchases made at the festival venue will be made via the coupon system. One can buy unlimited coupons according to one’s needs at the festival and also exchange the unused coupons at the end of the festival,’ the organisers said.
Tickets to the festival will be on sale from Oct. 25 and are priced depending on accommodation and other inclusions.
There is an official Thuwuni Festival camping village adjacent to the festival’s area as well.
Tickets to the camping area are valid only with a festival ticket, or alternatively, one may opt for home stay at Pughoboto, the organisers informed.
Members of students’ unions and women organisations along with the local police will be in charge of security during the Thuwuni festival, the organisers added.
