Hornbill Festival 2026: Dates, Inner Line Permit, and What to Wear in Kohima in December

The Hornbill Festival runs from 1 to 10 December 2026 at Kisama, outside Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. Organised every year by the state government and billed as the "Festival of Festivals", it brings the Naga tribes together in one place for ten days of performance, craft, food and music. If you are planning to go, there is one thing to sort out before anything else: the permit you need to enter Nagaland at all.

What the festival is

The Government of Nagaland describes Hornbill as a ten-day annual tourism event, conceived in 2000, that showcases Nagaland's cultural heritage "in all its ethnicity, diversity and grandeur". The festival also hosts the other states of North East India as a cultural exchange, and the state lists adventure, sport, art, handicraft, fashion, music and literature as part of the package.

The official festival page lists what usually fills the ten days:

• cultural performances by the different Naga tribes, every day;
• handlooms and handicrafts, arts and crafts, and an exhibition-cum-sale;
• a local cuisine and food festival, including Naga King Chilli and pineapple eating contests;
• indigenous games and sport, including the International Hornbill Naga Wrestling;
• an International Loin Loom event;
• the Hornbill Music Festival, with concerts and rock contests;
• a World War II rally, village walks and treks, mountain biking and day hikes to the Dzukou Valley;
• a bamboo carnival and night carnival.

That list is the festival's standing description, not a 2026 schedule. No day-by-day programme for this year has been published yet.

Before anything else: the Inner Line Permit

Nagaland is an Inner Line state. Under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873, anyone who is not an indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland needs an Inner Line Permit (ILP) to enter, and the state's own FAQ is explicit that this means Indians and foreigners alike. A festival ticket does not replace it.

The permit is applied for on the state's ILP portal: choose the tourist category, verify your phone number with an OTP, fill in the form and pay. Payment-gateway charges are added to the fees above. Read the document checklist before you start, because the portal says incomplete applications are rejected. Permits can also be obtained in person from the Nagaland Houses or a Deputy Commissioner's office in the state.

Tickets

Tourism Nagaland runs a Ticket to Hornbill page, but on 3 October 2026 it had nothing on it for 2026: no prices, no booking link, no dates. When the state publishes ticketing, it is the place to look. If someone else offers you Hornbill "tickets" before then, check them against the official page first.

What to wear to Hornbill

December is winter in the Naga hills. Expect cold mornings and evenings with much of the day spent outdoors, standing at performances, walking between stalls and staying on for the night events. Check a forecast for Kohima before you pack, but plan for the cold end of the day, not the warm one.

• Layers you can open and close. A warm base, a shirt or tunic over it, and an outer layer you can take off at midday and put back on at dusk.
• One real warm piece. A jacket, a long coat or a heavy shawl does more than three light ones. Our jackets and velvet are made for exactly this kind of evening, and our guide to wearing velvet in an Indian winter covers how to layer it.
• A stole or scarf. The easiest way to add warmth to a day look. Our stoles pack flat and work over almost anything.
• Shoes for ground, not floors. Ten days in the open means uneven paths and standing for hours. Walking shoes or flat boots beat anything delicate.
• Leave room for the craft. Handlooms, handicrafts and an exhibition-cum-sale are part of the festival's programme. If you plan to buy shawls or textiles, pack light so there is space to bring them home.

Travelling on to the rest of the North East? Our Shillong and Meghalaya guide covers the next hill state along.

Before you rely on this

Every fact on this page was read on 3 October 2026 from the Government of Nagaland's own sites: the Tourism Nagaland homepage, festival page, festival calendar and ticket page, and the official Inner Line Permit portal's about, FAQ and fees pages. No 2026 programme, ticket price or schedule had been published when we checked, so none is given here. Where the organiser had not said something, this page says so instead of guessing.