The Naadam festival is held around July 10-12 every year. Since this festival is celebrated as the liberation of the country, it is not limited to a certain region, but is celebrated all over the country. Celebrations and races continue throughout the month of July and August, after the official opening. Of course, the biggest celebrations are held in the capital city of Ulan Bator.
While planning a trip to Mongolia in July 2016, I was unaware that I had stumbled upon Naadam, Mongolia's biggest festival, as a result of pure coincidence. I bought it from Turna.com flight ticket I went to Mongolia with
Naadam means three men's games, and the most popular games of the country are played during the festival. All the items that come to mind when you think of Mongolia appear at this festival. Horse races, archery races, wrestling matches… Some of the Mongolian men are preparing for the competitions that will be held at this festival all year.
This festival is held to celebrate the founding of the first Mongolian State, the Great Mongolian Empire and the Mongolian Republic. National holiday of the Mongolian people. The reason why the festival date is July 10-12 is due to the fact that it is the best season for Mongolia, rather than a specific date. The weather is warm and sunny, so that maximum participation can be achieved in the competitions held outside.
The starting point of Naadam is the competitions held during the time of Genghis Khan while recruiting soldiers for the army. In order to enter the army and to reach a certain position in the army, you had to be successful in archery, horse riding and wrestling. This tradition has been continued with this festival and has been going on for hundreds of years.
Although the main competitions are archery, horseback riding and wrestling, large fairgrounds are set up and dance and music performances are held throughout the festival.
While both men and women can play archery and horse racing, wrestling is only played by men.
In the past, the vests worn by wrestlers were covered. Rumor has it that when a woman secretly replaced her injured brother and became champion, they paved the way for the vests worn by wrestlers to prevent women from participating.
Horse races are held on a wide steppe, 15 km from Ulaanbaatar. Hundreds of people, cars and people come to the area to watch horse races. Stands have been set up here, too, and all kinds of eating and drinking opportunities are available.
Nadaam Opening Ceremony
Nadaam's opening ceremony is held at the National Stadium and you need to buy tickets to watch the opening. I traveled to Mongolia with 3 Mongolian youths and had the opportunity to watch the opening ceremony with those families. Thanks to this, I had the chance to understand how special and important it is for Mongolians. All Mongolians, young and old, who come to Naadam, come to the ceremony area with their traditional clothes. You can spend your day taking pictures of beautiful Mongolian people all day long.
At the opening ceremony, all the racers make a cortege pass. There are dance performances and opening speeches. Performances are held in which scenes they are proud of in the history of Mongolia are reenacted.
Mongolian Food and Drinks | Naadam Foods and Drinks
Mongolian food culture is a food culture suitable for nomads. They take full advantage of the meat and milk of the animals they raise. Boiled meat, barbecue, dried meat are the dishes you will see most.
Apart from that, they have a ravioli called buuz, which resembles Chinese ravioli, and a pastry dish called Khushuur, which is similar to our pastry. Khushuur, which is done on the Naadam feast, is different in shape from the usual one.
Of course, kumiss is an important part of their lives. In the area where the Naadam festivities are held, stands are set up where you can taste all of these dishes.
They have a drink called tea, made from milk, butter and green tea. I loved it even though it's not for everyone's taste. This tea is definitely served with all meals. The most common form of breakfast is to chop and eat dried meat into tea at breakfast.
They make cheeses close to ours. They have dried cottage cheese-like cheese and the shortbread is a little sour but filling and nutritious.
Is Mongolia Safe?
Mongolia is generally a safe country. It is also one of the countries where gender equality is at the highest level. The women are also very strong and hardworking.
The only problem in Mongolia is the high alcohol consumption. Unfortunately, free-spirited people, who started to move from a nomadic life to a settled order, gave themselves to vodka when they had difficulty adapting to their new life. For this reason, it is possible to see people wandering around the streets. I even came across people who had an accident because of drunk driving and who were stuck on the road.
3 Comments
Thank you for introducing one of Mongolia's festivals, what a beautiful tradition
I had a lot of fun reading it, thanks.
Thanks