Numerous international acts took part in this year’s Hornbill Festival, from 1st to 10th December, at Kisama Heritage Village, near Kohima, with a total of more than 30 acts
Nagaland’s Kisama Heritage Village, near Kohima, saw the celebration of its rich cultural heritage at the Hornbill Festival 2025, from 1st December to 10th December, organised by the Government of Nagaland. Like every year, the festival witnessed traditional music, art and crafts, dance, sports, food and much more, along with rock music acts, featuring numerous International as well as Indian and Naga artists.
This year’s list of international acts included Rumac (Scotland), Drum Tao (Japan), Japan Junior Orchestra (Japan), Agniva (France), BoINN – Friends of the Mary Wallopers (Ireland), Mongdoll (South Korea), Yekumi (Israel), Space (Nepal), DJ Angy-Z (Russia), and Roots Zombie (France).
The Indian and Naga artist lists included The Fantastic Company, Novo, Trance Effect, Lateral Move, Street Stories, Wishes and Dreams, Akhanda, Rhythm of the Earth (SAMVAAD), Nagaland Collective, Shreya Karmakar, Gingerfeet, GATC, KL Pamei, Temsu Clover, Hope Academy, Noisy Neighbours, Juxtaposed, Dobom Doji Collective, David Angu, Alive, and Bright Lights.
Day 1 kicked off with vibrant powerful performances by three acts including Drum Tao of Japan who also performed on Day 2.
Day 3 saw quite a few international acts along with Novo from Assam, winners of Ticket to Hornbill Music Festival. Nagaland’s own Trance Effect also played on Day 3. Mongdoll from South Korea bought in the “K-energy”.
Day 4 saw 3 local acts from Nagaland.
Among Sikkimese acts, we had Akhanda (Day 5, among 2 other acts) and Girish And The Chronicles (Day 7). A video on Instagram shows Girish Pradhan, the rock band’s frontman, pay his tribute to Assamese music icon Zubeen Garg.
Albo Naga and The Band got a “last-minute” slot on Day 6, in place of Sanam who could not make it due to flight issues.
Alongside 2 other acts from Nagaland, Day 7 featured alt-rock outfit Gingerfeet from North Bengal.
Day 9 saw Nepal’s progressive/post-rock outfit called Space, alongside 3 acts from North-east India.
Roots Zombie from France headlined the closing ceremony to “India’s Biggest Music Festival”, a perfect ending to 10 magnificent days of celebrating Nagaland’s music and culture. All thanks to the Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA) and other organisations involved. Until then, we look forward to the 1st of December 2026!
Also read: Post Malone Pays Homage to Guwahati : “Zubeen Garg’s Homeland” in Debut Solo Headliner
