Nagaland govt decides to discontinue Hornbill International Rock contest

The Nagaland government has decided to discontinue the Hornbill International Rock contest from this year, an official said on Wednesday (August 28).

The Hornbill International Rock Contest was held annually as part of the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland. The event was started in 2004 as the Hornbill National Rock Contest and it went international in 2013.

Adviser for Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA), Theja Meru in a press conference announced that the Hornbill International Rock contest would be discontinued. He said that, having lived its period for 15 years, the Hornbill International Rock Contest will be discontinued and instead the festival will have “The Great Hornbill Rock”, which will have a few days dedicated to the winners of the Ticket to Hornbill.

He said that the decision has been taken to make the Hornbill Music Festival into a full-fledged music festival. Besides this, there will be an array of daily music acts which will be curated by an event management company.

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He also said, keeping in line with the vision of the Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio for an all-inclusive policy and giving maximum platform and opportunity to local musicians, TaFMA will conduct a statewide band audition under the aegis of Ticket to Hornbill on September 27.

The winner from each district will get an entry to perform at the Hornbill Music Festival, he said, adding that, as part of promoting the Music Festival and attracting the best of the best bands, Ticket to Hornbill will also be conducted for bands in a few selected cities of the country.

He announced that the main venue for the Hornbill Music Festival will be Dimapur. Meru further informed that the TaFMA will be conducting the Nagaland Choir Olympics Audition at the district levels on September 27, while the finale will be held in the state capital on October 23.