Mokokchung set to celebrate its 50th Christmas Cake Race

There are undoubtedly three quintessential events that complete the festive season in Mokokchung town – the C5 or Children’s Christ Cake Carol Competition, the Christmas Cake Race, and the New Year’s Eve celebration. Notably, this year marks the 50th edition of the Christmas Cake Race, an inter-ward relay race competition held on the eve of Christmas day now organized by the Mokokchung Municipal Council (MMC).

The Seasonal Club first organized the Christmas Cake Race in 1971 and has been held every year since, except for a couple of times. The last time that it was not held was in 2020 because of the pandemic. The MMC is set to organize the 50th edition of the Cake Race on 24 December. A core committee has been set up under the headship of the ADC and Administrator of MMC, Chumlamo Humtsoe, to organize the event this year. All the 18 wards of the town are preparing for the race. In fact, some of them are already scouting and training their participants while others are already holding their “advent Christmas Cake Race” in preparation for the real thing!

There are no decent records of the winners list but during the 1990s, Arkong Ward was the usual winner and by the turn of the century, it was Majakong Ward that almost always won every Christmas Cake Race. In recent years, after the bifurcation of Majakong Ward, it has almost always been Lijaba Lijen Ward that has won the race.

History of the Mokokchung Cake Race

According to Moa S Longkumer of Seasonal Club, “a kind of Christmas Cake Race” used to be held at the St Joseph’s College in Darjeeling in the late 60s. “Some of our friends who were studying there at the North Point at that time, particularly Mr Imti Aier, who was quite impressed by the event, brought the idea to the Club’s meeting which was instantly accepted by the house,” he writes in the Golden Jubilee Souvenir Magazine of Seasonal Club Mokokchung (1968-2018).

He continues, “But we had to modify it and develop it into a big event in the idea of participation by the whole town of Mokokchung which eventually became extremely popular.” According to him, this was the only major event staged for the entire community of the town to make its denizens feel the Christmas sensation during those days.

“Looking back, it was not easy during those days to organize such big events that too by a handful of young students. There was no television networks, no computers, no internet, and cell phones were unheard of – practically no communication gadgetry…” Longkumer writes. “But somehow we made it happen by putting all our resources and whatever we could mobilize given the circumstances. And today it has become a tradition of Christmas in Mokokchung.” It sure has.

“And there would be loud cheer as the to-be-winners come close to the finishing touch-line,” he writes. This remains the same to this day, only the cheer got louder and the crowd bigger!

To agree with Longkumer, eating the cake is not the subject of interest but winning and lifting it as a trophy is.

There were also competitions on “The Coming of the Magi” or “The Nativity Scene” which would be elaborately designed on tableaux, the cost of which the respective Sectors (as the Wards were known then) would bear without a question. This year, the organizers are bringing back this inter-ward competition after it was dropped in recent years.

Mokokchung Times