‘The Octave – Festival of the North East’ was introduced by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India to provide a right platform to the artistes and artisans of the North East region to project their rich cultural heritage. The region comprises eight States – Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Sikkim – hence the name Octave.
The first Octave was held in March, 2006 at New Delhi, which was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of India. Since then, the North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur [NEZCC] has been organising the Octave Festival in collaboration with its counterpart Zonal Cultural Centres every year.