Hornbill Fest witnesses crowd of more than 60,000 till day 2

The most cherished festivals of Nagaland, the Hornbill Festival has witnessed more than 60,000 people till the second day at Naga Heritage Village Kisama since its inauguration on Saturday. The annual festival will go on till December 09.

Altogether 63,032 visitors with 780 foreigners, 8,241 domestic tourists and 54,011 local visitors have visited the picturesque venue, some 12 km from the State capital, said assistant director of Tourism department (Statistics) T Khakihe Sumi. The inaugural day Saturday had 19,953 visitors while Sunday it rose up to 43,079 visitors, said the official official.

The day was marked as National Dance and Music Day on the theme "Cultural Connect" organised North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC).

The visitors were treated with cultural performances from across the country including Odisha, Assam, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

Revellers also got the opportunity to join the coming together of all the Naga tribes while they were engaged in the unity performance after the NEZCC show.

Meanwhile, Nagaland Governor PB Acharya Sunday said the North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC) was established with the main objective of promoting and preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Northeastern States.

He said the North East is well known for its distinct culture and traditional lifestyle and offers a mixed culture of different religion.

Addressing at the festival Acharya said, every tribal group of these States has its own unique tribal culture, tribal folk dance, food and crafts. Though each tribe has its own identity, culture, tradition, people live in harmony and peacefully.

He said that NEZCC has been the forerunner for preserving, nurturing and disseminating the mosaic of cultures and art forms of the NE since its inception with more than 5,000 registered troupes under NEZCC.

People of North East are talented in arts, skilled in making handicrafts and handlooms and handicrafts and handlooms products are acclaimed worldwide, he added.