Eagle Festival to be held in March

Oyundelger 2019-01-15 05:01

Society

Co-organized by the Tourism Department of the Capital City, Ulaanbaatar Tourism Association and Mongolian Eagle Hunters Association, the Spring Eagle Festival will be taking place in south west of UB

Co-organized by the Tourism Department of the Capital City, Ulaanbaatar Tourism Association and Mongolian Eagle Hunters Association, the Spring Eagle Festival will be taking place in south west of UB city. The festival opens with the parade of eagle hunters on horses, dressed in traditional clothes, carrying each of their eagles on one arm. Afterwards, a competition to show eagle's skill takes place, in which the participants have to call their eagles that are at the top of the mountain. The quickest to recognize its owner and sit on their forearm is given points. Most amazing competition organized at the festival is testing the hunting skills of the eagles by dragging a fake stuffed animal by a horse. Previously, the competition used to use a live animal to test the eagles’ skills, but as per the guests’ requests, a fake stuffed animal began to be used instead from the recent years. During the festival, the guests will also be able to become acquainted with the traditions and culture of the Kazakh people through traditional Kazakh games, such as Kokpar (tug of war over goatskin while on horseback). As Mongolia is one of the few remaining countries that continue to keep the 6000-year-old tradition of eagle hunting, the festival is organized twice a year, with one taking place in Ulaanbaatar in spring and the other in Bayan-Ulgii province in fall.