MUMBAI: Hornbill, one of the biggest cultural festivals in Nagaland, will be a grand one for Rock ‘n Roll fans with international bands - Helloween from Germany, and the ABBA official tribute band- ARRIVAL from Sweden - performing at this edition of the festival.

In addition to these, about 20-25 other bands will be seen performing at the Hornbill Festival 2015. There will be musical activities every night starting from 1st to 7th December, and the final day of the festival will see selected bands from different cities competing against each other for a top prize of 10 lakhs, and a video with the festival’s associate partner- Pepsi MTV Indies. The rock concert will crown two runners-up as well, and bands coming in second and third, will be awarded prize money of 5 and 2.5 lakhs, respectively.

The music budget of Hornbill festival usually sees a rise of 10 to 15 percent every year, and going by the standard, this year’s budget will be approximately 1.5 crore, confirmed Sky Group and Hornbill, founder and production head, Yanren Kikon. “Rock music is growing in a huge way in the Northeast. In fact, in the next 10 to 15 years it will reach the same peak as it did in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Today’s youngsters are more inclined towards EDM, but I do not see it growing much in the next 10 years.”

Rolling Stones and Pepsi MTV Indies are associate partners of the music event, while other sponsors are yet to be locked in. However, there has been talk of many investors showing interest in Hornbill this year, courtesy PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the festival last year. “Prime Minister Modi’s visit led to creating a better brand value for Hornbill. This has lead to more sponsors wanting to invest in this property,” stated Kikon.

The overall crowd expected at this year’s edition of the festival is about 75 thousand to a lakh.