December 10, 2017: The Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang today said Hornbill Festival 2017 was a grand success with the collective efforts of the people. He said this year’s Hornbill Festival has immensely contributed towards the cultural integration of the country with the participation of troupes from the North East states and Madhya Pradesh. Zeliang was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 18th Edition of Hornbill Festival at Kisama today.
The Chief Minister disclosed that the government is planning to organize the Festival in other districts on a rotational basis so that all tribes get opportunity to organize the festival and also provide scope to the tourist to see other parts of the state. On the issue of the much debated opinion to reduce the duration of the festival from 10 to 7 days, Zeliang said with the success of this year’s Hornbill Festival, there are now mixed reactions.
The Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the President of India Ram Nath Kovind for inaugurating the festival. Zeliang thanked Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Governors of Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for their presence during the festival. He said the presence of the chief ministers of Arunchal Pradesha and Manipur during the festival has added significance to the Festival and brought together the people of these three States much closer. (AIR News)
