Festivals of Nagaland

Hornbill Festival    

The state’s most well-known cultural extravaganza is held in the month of December. Visitors can enjoy a fabulous showcase of some of the most vibrant cultural traditions of the Nagas. The fiesta is a feast for the senses with the spotlight focused on the colourful costumes, headgear and jewellery, the array of culinary delights and traditional music and dance performances, and the deep-seated crafts and indigenous sporting traditions.

Sekrenyi Festival

Celebrated in the month of February by the Angami Nagas, Sekrenyi is marked by ritualistic purification ceremonies to avert evil, misfortune and disease. Singing, dancing and feasting mark the event after these sombre rites. The festival falls on the 25th day of the Angami month of Kezei. The ten-day festival is also called Phousanyi by the Angamis. Another intrinsic part of the proceedings is the Thekra Hie, the traditional songs sung by the youth of the village.

Aoleang Monyü Festival

The celebrations which take place in the month of April with ancient spring rites put the spotlight on various cultural aspects of the Konyak Nagas. Of great interest for visitors also are the feathered headdresses, jewellery, traditional attire and intricate face tattoos of the people. The festivities form part of the Mini Hornbill Tribal Festival. 

Moatsu Festival

The festivities are held with great vigour in the first week of the month of May by the Ao Nagas. The community enjoys these celebrations after the hard labours of jhum and sowing, and cleaning up the Tsubu (wells) completed for the new crops. Moatsu is marked by community bonding over much feasting, games and merrymaking.

Amongmong Festival

With the new crop ready for harvesting, the Sangtam Nagas gather together to celebrate the occasion in the first week of September. Worship of the deity Litsaba, whom the community reveres as the creator of the universe, is accompanied by a series of ancient rites, merrymaking, eating and drinking. It is also celebrated as a festival of familial reconciliation.

Tsokum Festival  

The Khiamgniungan Nagas celebrate the new harvest in October. Ritual ceremonies are organized to seek the blessings of the deities. The occasion is also used to forge stronger ties within the community.

Ngada Festival

This big-ticket festival of the Rengma Nagas is celebrated at the end of November after the bringing in of the harvest. The ceremonies involve thanksgiving rites led by the village priest for a bountiful harvest, feasts organized by wealthy people, and merrymaking by everyone in the village community. It is also a time for remembrance of the ancestors and reconciliation with wrongdoers.

Monyu Festival

The end of the sowing season in March heralds the arrival of spring and the New Year for the Phom tribesmen. The festivities revolve around a series of prayers and rituals invoking the deities for a healthy crop. Drummers beating a traditional log drum signal the closing of the festivities. People are supposed to disperse before the drumbeats so no evil falls upon them.