The Empire Strikes Back

If you attend only one Naadam in your lifetime, this should be the year. In ordinary times, Naadam (the word means “festival”) is the most important event on the Mongolian calendar and an occasion when people participate in traditional games and feasting. But this year’s404 Not Found

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nginx/1.14.0 (Ubuntu) celebrations, held on July 11 and 12, are being staged on a much grander scale in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the founding of Genghis Khan’s Mongol empire. Though festivities are organized all over the country, the biggest take place in the capital, Ulan Bator.

A thousand horsemen will put on a spectacular equestrian show there on the festival eve, July 10. The next morning, Naadam will begin with a recital by 800 morin huur players (the morin huur, a two-stringed fiddle, is Mongolia’s national instrument) and a performance by 800 singers of “long songs” — the hypnotic vocal music of the country’s vast steppes. There are plenty of other musical performances plus a huge array of food and craft stalls. But horse racing, wrestling and archery make up the bulk of the events at Naadam. Some say that the festival has its origins in the great hunting gatherings of the Mongol warriors of yore. As archers let their bows fly, and horse riders perform amazing feats of courage and skill, the claim is easy to believe. For more information, visit mongoliatourism.gov.mn