kohima the sevenday hornbill festival of nagaland is all set to begin on thursday with the theme unity in culture the festival will be inaugurated at 930 am by the governor nikhil kumar in presence of chief minister neiphiu rio and tribal guest yansathung jami of yanmhon old village wokha the festival will have more splendour than previous years several dignitaries and guests from the country and abroad including legislators ambassadors officials and renowned personalities have confirmed their participation in this years hornbill festival himato zhimomi commissioner and secretary of tourism told media persons at the directorate of tourism here on wednesday the main activities of the festival will include a cultural extravaganza naga king chilly eating competition national rock contest international motor rally and wwii vintage car rally the cultural exposition will also witness many additional attractions this year including the konyak fire eating demonstration pork fat eating competition literature fest global film fest hornbill ball choral panorama north east india drum ensemble fashion night naga wrestling competition archery competition miss nagaland contest and photo competition zhimomi said the second day of the festival has been set as north east cultural day where participants from different ne states will present various folk dances of north east india the newly added literature fest will be held on the fifth day where writers and publisher of the state can display their works and also release their new works so far more than a dozen authors and publishers have agreed to participate and two new books on birds of nagaland will be released during the fest he said reacting to a query he said the state government has earmarked rs 2 crore for the sevenday festival this year he added that hornbill at naga heritage village kisama is a platform to showcase what the states rural tourism has to offer in a very limited period to the tourists as the real strength of the state lies in the rural areas zhimomi also pointed out that the inflow of domestic and foreign tourists to the state has increased with the start of the hornbill festival the government decision of launching road shows in all district headquarters of the state has also helped to boost the states rural tourism to a great extent he added