Written by: Express Web Desk
3 min readDimapurNov 21, 2017 10:12 AM IST
First published on: Nov 21, 2017 at 10:12 AM IST
A band performing at the Hornbill International Rock Contest. (Source: Facebook)
The 2017 edition of the four-day Hornbill International Rock Contest (HIRC) will be held at Agri Expo in Dimapur. This was confirmed on Sunday. The top-billed rock contest which boasts of a rich purse has been held in the state capital Kohima since its introduction in 2004 as Hornbill National Rock Contest. The event went international in 2013. Now for the first time, the venue has been shifted to Dimapur, which has the only airport and rail station in Nagaland. 18 acts from all over the country selected through extensive auditions and four selected bands from the host state will complete the lineup.
The event has been shrouded in controversy over the last minute shifting of venue, which many feel will cause inconveniences to tourists.
A press statement by the Nagaland Chief Minister’s Office informed that the idea to shifting the event was primarily on “account of the desire and wishes of other districts to be a part of the Hornbill Festival”. “As such, the Government is planning to organize the event in Dimapur this year and likewise, it may go to other Districts on a rotation basis from next year,” it added.
Since the Hornbill Festival was shifted to the Kisama Heritage Village near Kohima, there have been demands that other districts should be allowed to host the biggest tourism event. Till last year, the Hornbill Festival and the Rock Contest had been restricted to Kohima. Dimapur got to be a part of the Festival when it hosted events related to the Hornbill Music Festival.
Kohima will get its share of music mania with Kailash Kher and Boney M scheduled to perform on the opening and closing day of the grand festival.
The 25 acts for HIRC 2017 are:
Avora Records (Aizawl); Daira (Mumbai); Doodles (Kalimpong); Fluff Paradox (Delhi); Ghouls (Singapore); Head Motif (Sikkim); Hidden Identity (Kolkata); Highway 69 (Ranchi); Lost Icons (New Delhi); Mount Groove (Darjeeling); North H (Bhutan); Pantacrator (Meghalaya); Perfect Stick Figure Illustrations (Gangtok); Radical Change (Mirik, Darjeeling); Radiocity (Kohima, Nagaland); Seed of Changes (Bangalore); Serenade (Kolkata)
Switchblade (Kohima, Nagaland); Sylvester the Trio (Bangalore); The Kids we used to know (Montana, USA); The Great Decade (Mokokchung, Nagaland); The Prophets (Mizoram); Titans (Tura); Trivial (Guwahati); Yellow Beacon (Dimapur)
A band performing at the Hornbill International Rock Contest. (Source: Facebook)
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