This month we celebrate the annual Naadam Festival, which is to be held on 11th-15th July in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar. The festival is the most widely celebrated event of the Mongolian year and is believed to have century old traditions, originating from the military practices of Gengis Khan’s army. However, it was during the 1920s that the festival gained official recognition as a national celebration, following the victory of the People’s Revolution and the formation of the independent nation of Mongolia.
The festival has a significant cultural status in Mongolia and thousands of people come together every year to celebrate Mongolian traditions through a range of cultural games. Primarily, the festival consists of Horseracing, archery and wrestling and these form the three core sports of the festival, being termed the “Danshig” games. However, in addition to these sporting games, the festival also celebrates traditional arts, cuisines and music, with people attending dressed in colourful and vibrant ‘dell’ costumes!
The Naadam festivities also coincide with Managing Director, Graham McDarby and Technical Director, Tanja Smith’s trip to our Mongolian atelier! This exciting visit will be a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the festival with our Mongolian friends and colleagues as well as assess progress at the Shangri La project site in Ulaanbaatar.
To anybody visiting the Naadam festival, we send our well wishes during this experience of Mongolian culture, history and entertainment!
