Kohima: The Dzukou Valley of Nagaland, often touted as a piece of heaven on earth, is all set to host the maiden Dzukou Valley Festival, a seven-day music, dance and food extravaganza. A first-of-its-kind event for the valley, the festival is scheduled to be held from Oct 19 to 25.
The lowland treeless landscape of Dzukou Valley, located at an altitude of 2,438.4 m above sea level bordering Nagaland and Manipur, is all set to embrace nature lovers and explorers with its peaceful and green environment. The valley is located at a distance of almost 24 km south of Kohima.
The festival has been organised by the Nagaland tourism department in the wake of the floods that recently hit the state. The department aims at reviving the inflow of tourists and adventurists from across the globe through this week-long eco-festival.
India Trail, an eco-tour agency based in Kohima, is holding the festival to promote ‘responsible hike and trek’ while encouraging ‘responsible tourism’.
The festival is set to witness acoustic musical performances by local artists, bonfires, landscape photography sessions and nature walks, besides trekking and camping. While the festival is a week-long affair, specific day-trekking activities to the valley is also being welcomed.
Speaking to EastMojo, Akhrielie David Solo, ‘traveller-in-chief’ of India Trail’, said, “The idea of responsible trekking was proposed to check and educate both locals and tourists about maintaining the pristine nature of the valley.”
While Hornbill festival has become the most popular event attracting tourists to the state, other tourism activities of Nagaland remain less explored, limiting the growth and scope of tourism in the state.
Solo, who is also the president of the Nagaland Tourism Association (NTA), added: “It is very challenging to sustain tourism in our state because we have an extremely short tourism season which starts from late November to mid-February.”
Highlighting the need to make the locals aware of the beautiful tourist locations available in their own state, Solo said, “There are many locals who haven’t been to Dzukou, which is why we, at India Trail, are envisioning three seasonal camps by next year to encourage more tourism activities during off-season.”
Apart from Dzukou Valley Festival, Nagaland has a host of festivals line up for the season. Coming up next is ‘Amur Falcon Festival’ in Wokha from November 8 and 10. Hornbill Festival, the mother of all festivals, will be held in Kisama from December 1 to 10.
Meanwhile, in an effort to keep a healthy flow of tourists all year round in Nagaland, the government has approved ‘mini hornbill festivals’ coinciding with tribal festivals in all districts of the state. Mokokchung was the first such district to celebrate ‘Tsungremmong Hornbill Festival’ in August this year.
