The Naadam Festival is the major Mongolian holiday and a wonderful time to experience the culture and people of this amazing land. The origin of the festival dates back to the ‘great warriors’ period’ or great Chinggis Khaan’s period in the 13th century. The festival is locally termed “Eriin Gurvan Naadam” meaning the ‘three manly sports’ – namely horse race, wrestling and archery. Nowadays women successfully compete in the last of the three.

The official festival celebration takes place through the country from 11 to 13 July, annually. The opening and closing ceremonies as well as wrestling are held at Ulaanbaatar’s Central Stadium while horse racing takes place at the Khui Doloon Khudag – located a short drive from the capital.

Besides these, many interesting cultural events will be held on Sukhbaatar Square, in the heart of the Mongolian capital, such as the ‘Deeltei Mongol’ traditional costumes festival which is held on 10 July annually. The ‘Eternal Sky’ nomadic cultural and arts festival will be held on 6-8 July. The Naadam Festival night show of the will take place on Sukhbaatar Square on 11 July and the ‘Mongol Classic’ night concert can be seen on 12 July at 11.00 p.m.