Manipur’s flagship tourism event, the Sangai Festival, has recorded one of its poorest turnouts, with officials attributing the abysmal footfall to continuing protests by internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the deepening impact of the ethnic conflict that has gripped the state since May 2023.
Held after a three-year gap, the state-organised festival, which once drew enormous crowds and was positioned as a symbol of Manipur’s cultural unity and tourism potential, has seen only around 1,000 visitors daily between November 21 and 29, totalling barely 8,000-9,000 people, officials said. In 2022, the festival attracted 2.19 lakh visitors over ten days, before ethnic violence between the Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and the hill-based Kukis left more than 260 people dead and displaced thousands.
Despite heavy security arrangements at the main venue of Hapta Kangjeibung in Imphal East district, empty chairs, unlit stages and deserted stalls marked the event. Many stall owners complained that business had collapsed, with several simply choosing not to open.
Thai Gangmei, who ran a food stall at the venue, said most vendors saw negligible sales. “Many stalls remained closed while the ones functioning hardly had any customers. The few buyers included the personnel and officials deployed at the venue. Stall owners, including those who came from outside the state, struggled to earn profits during the festival,” Gangmei said.
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IDPs clashed with police on multiple occasions at Yaingangpokpi and Pukhao Terapur in Imphal East district and at Phougakchao Ikhai in Bishnupur district as they attempted to return to their homes, arguing that the state could not claim “normalcy” by hosting a festival while thousands remained unable to resettle. More than 10 displaced persons sustained minor injuries as security forces used tear gas to disperse agitators over the last ten days.
The protests were led by displaced families from Churachandpur and the periphery of Imphal East, alongside students and several civil society organisations. They asserted that if the government believed the situation had stabilised enough to hold the state’s largest cultural event, it must also facilitate the return of the displaced.
Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, inaugurating the festival on November 21, had urged the people of Manipur to uphold the “spirit of oneness” and described the event as a platform for showcasing the state’s “cultural richness, entrepreneurial energy, and tourism potential”.
With visitor footfall collapsing, officials acknowledged that the only major crowd-puller this year was a musical concert by British band ‘Blue’, which performed before a sizeable audience at Khuman Lampak on Saturday evening.
The 2025 edition of the Sangai Festival, meant to signal Manipur’s resilience and revival, instead reflected the state’s continuing fault lines, deep mistrust and the slow pace of reconciliation as the ethnic conflict approaches its second year.
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