Tourists Ken Nathanson and a friend watch cultural performances at Naga Heritage Village Kisama on Dec. 9.

Kohima Bureau
Kohima, Dec. 9 (EMN): The ninth day of the ongoing Hornbill Festival attracted a total of reportedly 50, 029 tourists with 289 foreign tourists; 6211 domestic and 43, 529 local visitors to the Naga Heritage Village Kisama.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror at Kisama, foreign tourists said to have been impressed and fascinated by the opportunity to witness the colourful attires and performances of all the tribes of Nagaland all in one place.
On his first visit to the Hornbill Festival, Ken Nathanson from Hongkong – who came with a crew of ten members – was full of praise for the festival, while expressing fascination with the ‘vibrant culture and tradition’ of the Nagas.Nathanson said they have travelled to the Northeast states of Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland for two weeks which also included the two districts of Mon and Mokokchung ‘with the last stop at Kisama for the past nine days.’
Among all the other places and events, he said, the Hornbill Festival was the highlight of their tour. He commended the ‘well-organised programme.’ When enquired about how he came to know about the festival, Nathanson said a friend of his from Spain who had witnessed the festival two years ago recommended to him to go and ‘see for himself.’
On being asked if the festival was up to his expectations, Nathanson replied: ‘It exceeded my expectations! It is an opportunity for us to witness all the 17 tribes of Nagaland in one place.’
He expressed hope to come back to the Hornbill Festival next year while assuring that he would certainly recommend to his friends back home to visit the festival as well.
Another tourist, Yair Ketz from Israel said: “It was an amazing experience and interesting to see the rich Naga cultural heritage.”
Ketz, who has been here at Kisama since day-one, appreciated that the state government had been doing ‘a very good job toward promoting tourism in the state.’ He expressed a wish to visit the Hornbill Festival in the coming years too.
Father and son duo, Richard and Tom Boyo from London, who arrived on Saturday at Kisama were full of excitement and expectation of the Hornbill Festival. According to them, they came to know about the festival through friends.
Tom Boyo said they were having an amazing experience so far, and hoped that they will get to see more of it on the final day of the festival.