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Some of those who voted YES had this to say:
• Yes, the basic real essence of Hornbill Festival is reducing, the traditional festivals have been celebrated for ages, however, many become unknown and some transform. The way we celebrate festivals today is not closer to the traditions, but to our convenience, their meaning is diminishing day by day and the metropolitan style of celebrating festivals is the new trend. During the olden days, parents taught their children the importance of each festival. Whereas, today's kids are not aware of the significance of festivals. A sight of relief is that, in some villages the traditional customs are followed even today.
• Yes. Very few raw and authentic cultural representation of Naga culture in the festival. Modernised versions of every aspect of our culture. And almost every tourist asking the locals where the hornbill birds are is a major embarrassment. Name is hornbill but no hornbill birds to be seen around. No zoo, no sanctuary to show others how we've preserved this bird that means so much in Naga culture.
• Yes. Hornbill was introduced to promote and showcase not just Naga culture but Naga way of life. Tourism is not just about dancing and singing, it is about the arts, culture, intellect, entrepreneurship and so on. Rather than developing Naga entrepreneurs, getting mainstream tourist companies into the Hornbill is not a good sign. In the next few years these outside companies will throw aside the local indigenous companies.
• Very much. It is sickening that every item during Hornbill Festival is priced as high as possible and there's none to regulate the price of materials or goods and food items... The concerned authority must eradicate the price-raising syndrome and marginalise things according to other market norms which are farmer/ poor people friendly. On the other side, tourists won't be ignorant about our particular practice too and in the long run, it will be bad news for tourism sector.
• Yes. We have lost our originality for the sake of appeasing foreigners. In many ways, it has done more harm than good.
• Yes. There is an identity crisis in the hornbill fest. Instead of broadening the scope of the festival now it has been narrowed to the hornbill music festival. This is very shortsighted.
• It's more of a performance or an act now based on the cultural propaganda that government tends to profit from, where the common people are made gimmicks of.
• We should stick to the core issue. Promotion of culture less we disappear as a people.
• It started as Hornbill bird symbol of Nagaland. And now it doesn't make sense for tourists specially after spending so much amount and come all the way to see Naga traditional and now it's doesn't stand any meaningful of what Hornbill means. Very upsetting because, we Nagas have lots to offer. Need to really step up and think why we begin this Hornbill bird symbol for Nagaland.
• The aim of the organiser is to trick the tourist of their money, while the local populace is pure hooligans drunk on stupid rice beer or cheap Indian made rum and flashing guns. That is Nagaland’s culture.
Some of those who voted NO had this to say:
• No. Hornbill Festival has alleviated the stature of Nagaland in the area of tourism.
• No. The Hornbill is a good platform but I am afraid it is being mismanaged. IT requires professionalism. People with the know-how and unfortunately not in this department. Like the Bamboo Agency, the Hornbill Festival should fall under a specific agency that will work for the development of the Hornbill Festival.
• Sustaining and celebrating Naga's unique and diverse cultural heritage is one of the primary purposes of Hornbill festival. All tribes, eager to show the world each unique tradition, converge on one platform and do their best. The festival unites and helps sustaining our rich cultural heritage. Yes there are several problems and commercialization is one of them. But exhibition of our traditional items with a price tagged should not be concluded as commercialization. The world is increasingly becoming a consumerist society and Nagaland is no exception. That, however, does not mean we should condone the process. Course correction would hopefully address the problems.
Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say:
• Hornbill Festival needs to become more professional in its approach, presentation, character, outlook and implementation. Professionalism does not always mean getting people from outside to come and do our work. It means investing in our local human resources, sending them outside (regionally and abroad) for training and exposure so that they can come back and implement all that they have learnt into the Hornbill Festival.
• Is there essence?
• We should stick to the core issue. Promotion of culture less we disappear as a people
• Forget about the Hornbill Festival. Till last time we were a lion fighting against a lamb, the constitution; now, we’re a worm fighting against a bird, the CAB to be eaten.
