Hornbill Festival

One village hosts a wooden communal house for every one of Nagaland’s 17 major tribes. For ten days each December, all of them come alive at once.

Seventeen Tribes, One Village

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2000

Festival Launched

Government of Nagaland builds Kisama Heritage Village as its permanent home

2007

Naga Chilli’s World Record

Bhut Jolokia earns Guinness recognition as the world’s hottest chilli

2019

Rock Contest Ends

The Hornbill International Rock Contest is discontinued, later replaced

DEC 2025

26th Edition Held

The festival marks a quarter-century since its first year

Built for the festival: Kisama Heritage Village didn’t exist before 2000. It was purpose-built to house a traditional morung for each of Nagaland’s 17 major tribes.

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Timeline

• In 2000, the Government of Nagaland launched the first Hornbill Festival. It built Kisama Heritage Village as the festival’s permanent home.
• In 2007, the Naga King Chilli, or Bhut Jolokia, earned a Guinness World Record as the world’s hottest chilli pepper.
• In 2019, the festival’s Hornbill International Rock Contest was discontinued. A new Hornbill Music Festival later took its place.
• In December 2025, Nagaland held the festival’s 26th edition, at Kisama, near Kohima.

Must Know

• The Hornbill Festival is a 10-day annual festival, held from 1 to 10 December, at Kisama Heritage Village near Kohima, Nagaland.
• It is named after the hornbill bird, an animal held in high regard across Naga tradition.
• The festival brings together Nagaland’s 17 major recognised tribes. It is popularly nicknamed the “Festival of Festivals.”
• The festival was first launched by the Government of Nagaland in 2000.

Good to Know

• Kisama‘s name comes from its two neighbouring villages: “Ki” from Kigwema, and “sa” and “ma” from Phesama and Kigwema. The village houses a morung, a traditional communal house, for each of Nagaland’s 17 tribes.
• The Naga King Chilli eating competition is one of the festival’s signature contests. It uses the same Bhut Jolokia chilli that once held the world’s hottest-pepper record.
• The Bhut Jolokia held its Guinness World Record from 2007 to 2010, before being surpassed by the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper.
• Beyond tribal war dances and craft displays, the festival also runs modern events. These include a motorbike rally and, since the Rock Contest ended, the newer Hornbill Music Festival.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. In which year was the Hornbill Festival first launched by the Government of Nagaland?

1995

2000

2005

2010

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Great to Know

• The festival’s original idea came from the Beauty and Aesthetics Society of Nagaland (BASN), which pitched it as a winter carnival. The state government then adopted and formalised it.
• Pairing a chilli-eating contest and a rock music stage with traditional war dances is a deliberate choice. It signals the festival isn’t just a heritage museum piece, but a living celebration that keeps adding to itself.
• For Nagaland’s broader constitutional and geographic profile, including Article 371A’s protection of Naga customary law, see GK0037 — Nagaland.