Key facts

  • Dates: 1-10 December 2026 (27th edition)
  • Venue: Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, about 12 km south of Kohima
  • Music hours: Hornbill Music Festival evenings, 6 pm to 9 pm
  • Lineup: Not announced as of 23 October 2026
  • Ticket to Hornbill 2026: 17 Oct, Talkatora Stadium, Delhi; winner gets ₹10 lakh and a festival slot
  • Last winner: NOVO (Haflong, Assam), Ticket to Hornbill 2025

Hornbill Festival 2026 runs from 1 to 10 December 2026 at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, about 12 km south of Kohima, Nagaland. It is the festival's 27th edition. The Hornbill Music Festival, its evening music programme, is listed for the same ten days, from 6 pm to 9 pm. As of 23 October 2026, organisers have not announced the 2026 music lineup or ticket prices. The only confirmed route onto the stage so far is Ticket to Hornbill, a national band battle held at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on 17 October. Its winner gets ₹10 lakh and a slot at the festival, and no result had been publicly reported when this article was published.

Below is everything that is confirmed for 2026 and what is still unknown. We also look at how the music side of Hornbill has changed, from the old Hornbill International Rock Contest to today's band-battle pipeline, and which Northeast bands it has helped along the way.

More facts

  • Dates: 1 to 10 December 2026. The opening day coincides with Nagaland Statehood Day on 1 December.
  • Edition: the 27th Hornbill Festival, according to the Nagaland government's information department.
  • Venue: Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, about 12 km south of Kohima on the Kohima-Imphal road.
  • Music hours: Hornbill Music Festival evening shows from 6 pm to 9 pm, per the official music festival site.
  • Lineup: not announced as of 23 October 2026. The official site says only that the 2026 edition is "coming soon".
  • Ticket to Hornbill 2026: the band battle was held on 17 October at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. The winner receives ₹10 lakh and a Hornbill Music Festival slot.

When and where is Hornbill Festival 2026

The Government of Nagaland holds the Hornbill Festival every year from 1 to 10 December, and 2026 follows that pattern. PTI reported the 1 to 10 December dates and the Kisama venue on 26 August 2026, when the state's Tourism Minister, Temjen Imna Along, announced Ticket to Hornbill in New Delhi. IANS, reporting via DD News on 14 October, confirmed the 27th edition at the Naga Heritage Village.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio chaired a preparatory meeting at Bamboo Hall, Kisama on 13 October 2026. According to the state's Directorate of Information and Public Relations, he asked departments to name nodal officers and focus on roads, power, water, security, traffic, parking and cleanliness. The Department of Youth Resources and Sports also outlined an e-sports tournament for the festival.

DD News reported that several countries are expected to take part in 2026 and that one Northeastern state will be the Partner State. Neither the countries nor the partner state had been named publicly by 23 October.

Hornbill began in December 2000. The Chief Minister's advisor Abu Metha said in October that it started as a three-day event, grew to five days and then to ten. He now describes it as more than 300 events across dozens of venues in the state.

Hornbill Festival 2026 music lineup: what is confirmed

The short answer is that no artist has been confirmed for the Hornbill Music Festival 2026. The official site run by the Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA), the Nagaland government body that programmes the music, lists the dates and the 6 pm to 9 pm slot. It also says "Hornbill Music Festival 2026 is coming soon". Its Ticket to Hornbill panel says video submissions are closed and that shortlisted acts "will be contacted soon".

The same site presents the festival as having a 25-year legacy, more than 800 artists and an attendance of more than 3,00,000. At the PTI briefing in August, Metha spoke of "more than 300 events, over 800 musicians from across the world" across the wider festival.

The one guaranteed booking is the Ticket to Hornbill 2026 winner. Searches for "hornbill festival 2026 lineup" and "hornbill festival 2026 artist" will not find a real answer until TaFMA publishes its programme. In 2025, TaFMA announced its plans in early November, so a November announcement is a reasonable expectation but not a confirmed date.

Ticket to Hornbill 2026 in Delhi

The 2024 and 2025 finals were held at RCEMPA in Jotsoma, near Kohima. The 2026 edition moved to Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi as a two-day prelude to the festival, organised by Tourism Nagaland and TaFMA.

  • 16 October: a free showcase of Nagaland's cultural performances and live music, with gates opening at 5 pm.
  • 17 October: Ticket to Hornbill, billed as India's Biggest Band Battle, from 5 pm. Tickets were ₹200 on Ahibi.
  • Prize pool: ₹20 lakh in cash plus ₹5 lakh in individual instrument prizes from Furtados and Sennheiser. Casio India presented the competition.
  • Winner's prize: ₹10 lakh and a slot at the Hornbill Music Festival in December 2026.

TaFMA chairman Theja Meru set out the reasoning to PTI: "Independent bands often have the ability but lack access to major venues, industry attention and meaningful financial support. This competition addresses those gaps through a live national contest, substantial prizes and a direct route to the Hornbill Music Festival."

Who won Ticket to Hornbill 2026

We searched news reports from Nagaland and national outlets, the official Hornbill Music Festival site, and posts on X since 16 October. As of 23 October 2026, none of them named a winner of the 17 October final. We will add the winner and runners-up here once TaFMA or a major outlet reports the result.

Ticket to Hornbill winners so far

The band battle is young, but it has already put two bands on the Hornbill stage.

2024: Fifth Note

Fifth Note from Nagaland won the 2024 edition at RCEMPA, Jotsoma, on 21 October 2024, Eastern Mirror reported. They took ₹20 lakh, and The Prophets and Project Anonymous finished as runners-up with ₹10 lakh and ₹5 lakh. The live rounds on 18 and 19 October had 30 shortlisted bands. Seven went through to the final, and three more got wild cards. Northeast News described the contest as a prelude to the 25th Hornbill Music Festival.

2025: NOVO

NOVO, a nu-metal band from Haflong in Assam, won the 2025 edition at RCEMPA, Jotsoma. India Today NE and Nagaland Post both reported the result. Juxtaposed from Bengaluru finished first runner-up and Akhanda from Sikkim second runner-up. Nagaland Post reported that the top three earned ₹20 lakh, ₹10 lakh and ₹5 lakh, plus slots at the 26th Hornbill Music Festival. The judges were Mrinmoyee Goswami, Booma, Obed Kath and Subir Malik.

Homegrown profiled NOVO in August 2026. The band formed in 2020 and has five members from Kuki, Hmar, Khasi and Assamese communities. Its third official single, "Puzzle Inside", followed in 2026. The band has also posted a live recording of "State of Mind" from Hornbill Festival 2025 on its YouTube channel.

The 2026 prize structure is different. PTI reported ₹10 lakh for the winner, compared with ₹20 lakh for the top band in 2024 and 2025.

What the 2025 Hornbill Music Festival looked like

The 2026 bill is unknown, so the 2025 edition is the best guide to what to expect. On 8 November 2025, TaFMA and Okusa Toyota Nagaland announced bands from Ireland, Scotland, South Korea, Israel, Nepal, Japan and India, along with local Naga artists and the Ticket to Hornbill winners. The Japanese drumming ensemble Drum Tao returned, and South Korean band Mongdoll collaborated with Nagaland's Trance Effect.

Meru told Eastern Mirror that the festival's focus "remains on local and deserving indie artistes who often don't get access to major stages", even though TaFMA receives many requests for big international acts. The 2025 edition also added the following:

  • Hornbill Busking, with artists from all 17 districts of Nagaland.
  • The first Nagaland Choir Games, held on 8 and 9 December at the Capital Cultural Hall in Kohima.
  • A Hornbill Music Festival extension to six districts.

Rolling Stone India's guide to the 2025 week shows how the bill mixes national names and local acts. On 7 December at Unity Plaza in Kisama, Girish and The Chronicles from Sikkim shared the night with KL Pamei and Temsu Clover and with Kolkata funk rock band Gingerfeet. On 8 December, Juxtaposed played alongside Noisy Neighbours and Hope Academy. Two independent festivals ran in the same window: ImagiStage at Kisama, with Joint Family and The F16s, and Kohima Ridge Live, with Polar Lights, Dossers Urge and Lojal.

From rock contest to music festival

For most of its history, Hornbill's music identity was a competition. The Hornbill International Rock Contest was organised by the state's Music Task Force and offered serious prize money. In 2015 the winner took ₹10 lakh at the Hockey Ground of IG Stadium in Kohima, where 24 bands competed, according to Eastern Mirror. The contest was discontinued from 2019, the festival's information site says, and replaced first by The Great Hornbill Rock and then by the Hornbill Music Festival.

Its roll of winners is a useful map of Indian rock in that period. The festival's information site lists the following:

  • 2006: Joint Family (Rolling Stone India also names them as the 2006 winners)
  • 2007: Hobos, Kolkata
  • 2008: Verbs, Shillong
  • 2009: OFF, Nagaland
  • 2010: Slain, Bangalore
  • 2011: Indigo Children, New Delhi
  • 2012: Gingerfeet, Kolkata
  • 2013: Underground Authority, Kolkata
  • 2014: Adams Apple, Darjeeling
  • 2015: Reverse Tragedy, Mizoram
  • 2016: SNF, Nagaland
  • 2017: Avora Records, Mizoram
  • 2018: Perfect Strangers, Bangalore

Several of these results are confirmed by contemporary news reports. Rolling Stone India covered Gingerfeet's 2012 win. PTI reported SNF's 2016 title, with Crystal and the Witches from Sikkim and The Prophets from Mizoram behind them, and Rudy Wallang and Luke Kenny among the judges. Eastern Mirror reported Perfect Strangers' 2018 win and its ₹10 lakh prize.

The thread through all three eras is the same. Hornbill gives bands from the Northeast and smaller scenes a big stage and a real fee. Gingerfeet won in 2012 and returned to the Hornbill bill in 2025.

The festival also has its own anthem. TaFMA released "Come Together" by Dimapur pop-rock band Trance Effect as the official song of the 25th Hornbill Festival in November 2024. The official music site still features it.

For more on the region's bands, read our guide to Northeast India bands and artists and our deep dive into the Shillong music scene. For other dates on the winter circuit, see our music festivals in India 2026 calendar.

Hornbill Festival 2026 tickets and price

Ticket prices for 2026 have not been announced for either the main venue or the music evenings. Here is what happened in 2025, as a guide only:

  • Main venue entry at Kisama: PTI quoted Director of Tourism Viyelo Duolo as saying entry for all categories of visitors was fixed at ₹150 per head. EastMojo reported a standardised fee of ₹50 from the same briefing. Treat the 2025 figure as unsettled.
  • Music festival: 2025 was the first year the Hornbill Music Festival charged for entry, EastMojo reported. The charge was kept minimal, though the report did not give a per-show price.
  • Foreign visitors: the Protected Area Permit remained mandatory in 2025. The process was relaxed, with airport counters taking about 15 minutes, for all nationalities except Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, PTI reported. The 2026 rules have not been announced.

Book accommodation early. EastMojo reported that hotels and homestays were fully booked before the 2025 festival opened.

FAQ

When is Hornbill Festival 2026?

From 1 to 10 December 2026 at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, near Kohima. It is the 27th edition. Hornbill Music Festival shows run from 6 pm to 9 pm.

Who won Ticket to Hornbill 2025?

NOVO, a nu-metal band from Haflong, Assam. Juxtaposed from Bengaluru and Akhanda from Sikkim were the runners-up. The 2024 winner was Fifth Note from Nagaland. No winner of the 2026 final, held in New Delhi on 17 October, had been reported as of 23 October 2026.

Is Hornbill Festival free?

No. In 2025, PTI reported main-venue entry at ₹150 per head for all visitors, and the Hornbill Music Festival began charging for its own shows. Prices for 2026 have not been announced.

Hornbill Festival is celebrated in which state?

Nagaland. The Government of Nagaland organises it every year, mainly at Kisama in Kohima district, with extensions in other districts.

What is the Hornbill Festival named after?

The hornbill, a bird that features in the folklore of most Naga communities. The festival brings the state's tribes together, which is why it is also called the Festival of Festivals.

Sources

Cover photo: Aravind Manickam / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Sources

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