Hornbill International Music Festival: K-Pop band to feature

Dimapur is set to host the top-billed rock contest ‘Hornbill International Music Festival’ for the second year after the music festival was shifted to the city in 2017.

LiveNow Events, under the patronage of the Nagaland government and the Music Task Force (MTF) have raised the bar of Hornbill International Music Festival 2018 by dedicating the ten-day music festival to different music genres.

The 10-day festival is scheduled to be held from Dec. 1 to Dec. 10 at the Agri Expo in Dimapur. It will feature the Hornbill International Rock Contest 2018 too, starting from Dec. 5 and till Dec. 7 for the preliminaries; and Dec. 8 for the finale. The gate will open at 6 pm. The entry fee is INR 100. The event is supported by the Diphupar Naga Youth Organisation and has it as volunteers.

The winners will win INR 10 lakh; the first runner-up INR 5 lakh and the third runner-up INR 3.5 lakh. There will be individual prize winners too.  This was informed by Live Now Events at a press conference at Hotel Saramati in Dimapur on Mon. Nov. 26.

LiveNow Events has exciting news for K-Pop fans too. The organisers disclosed that this year’s festival will see K-Pop band “Mont” from South Korea taking the stage on Dec. 4 in their pre-debut concert.

Altogether 24 bands, including five from Nagaland, will be contesting for the top prize. The bands include those from Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Assam, Sikkim, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

On Dec. 9 the festival will feature famed Meghalaya Blues Rock band Soulmate which has had numerous national and international performances.

Another key attraction will be the ‘Great Hornbill Guitar Ensemble’ featuring some top Naga guitarists. The Ensemble will be on stage on Dec. 3.

The festival will kick off with Nagaland Unleashed, a platform for the best upcoming bands from Nagaland. Day-2 will see Praise Sunday, an evening of Christian music by some of the best Christian bands and artistes from the state. The Praise Sunday concept was first introduced by LiveNow Events in the 2017 edition to provide a platform to talented Christian music bands and solo artistes. The organisers informed that the proceeds and money collected on Praise Sunday will be donated as charity as an act of Hornbill gives back.

Nagaland band Lords of Rock (LOR) front man Clement Imsong will host both the music festival and the rock contest.

The 10-day music festival will culminate with an EDM night with Ukranian DJ Siana Catherine raising the spirit of Hornbill International Music Festival 2018.

 The schedule of HIMF 2018

DATE                    EVENT

Dec. 1                   Nagaland Unleashed

Dec. 2                   Praise Sunday

Dec. 3                   The Great Hornbill Guitar Jamboree

Dec. 4                   K-Pop: Mont

Dec. 5                   Hornbill International Rock Contest (Prelims)

Dec. 6                   Hornbill International Rock Contest (Prelims)

Dec. 7                   Hornbill International Rock Contest (Prelims)

Dec. 8                   Hornbill International Rock Contest Finale

Dec. 9                   Blues Nite – Soulmate

Dec. 10                EDM Nite – DJ Siana Catherine

Eastern Mirror Desk