The 23rd Hornbill Festival, a 10-day event, where Naga culture will be showcased in full splendour is to kick-start from 1 December under the theme event ‘Cultural Connect’ at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.

During the press conference held today at the Directorate of Tourism Department, Advisor of Tourism Art & Culture, H Khehovi Yepthomi, asserted that the participation of the ENPO is uncertain; however, the final response of ENPO for the participation is anticipated. Nevertheless, he said the non-participation of the ENPO will not have any impact on the 23rd Hornbill Festival which is set to commence on 1 December in a grand way.

He stated that alternative arrangements have been made if the ENPO abstain from participating in the festival.

Yepthomi announced that the 23rd function of the State will be inaugurated on the first day of the event and the tribal guest will pronounce traditional blessing during the inaugural programme.

Hornbill Canoe Sprint, Hornbill Darts Master, Body Fitness, Lidi Kro U traditional, Naga Thali competition and traditional shot put are some of the new additions to the grand function.

Furthermore, he announced that the Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, will arrive as the guest of honour; His excellency Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, Hon’ble Barry O’Farrell AO, Australian High Commissioner to India, and Eleonora Dimitrova, Ambassador of Bulgaria, as the honoured guests; and Ravi Bhatnagar, Director External Affairs and Partnerships South Asia Office (SOA) Reckitt, as a special guest of the inaugural day.

The special guests of the following days will be Amrendra Kumar, IRS Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Shillong; G Ramesh, Executive Director & State Head Indian Oil Corporation Guwahati; Kalyan Chaubey, President of All Indian Football Federation (AIFF); and Admiral Hari Kumar, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS).

Governor of Nagaland and Assam Prof Jagdish Mukhi will be the chief host of the August function; the host will be Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio; H Khehovi Yepthomi, Advisor of Tourism Art & Culture-festival host and Yekhüsü Tureng will be the tribal guest.

The 2021 statistics of foothills of foreign, domestic and local visitors was 56,356 with foreign – 54, domestic – 14,538 and local – 41,764.

The inaugural programme will begin at 4pm and the Naga Craft Portfolio of 2022, Hip Fest, Hortiscape and Agri products will also be inaugurated.