On the first weekend of October, on a plain outside Ölgii in Mongolia’s far west, dozens of Kazakh hunters ride in with golden eagles on their arms. This is the Golden Eagle Festival. Here is what happens, and how we attend it with guests.
Who the hunters are
Bayan-Ölgii is Mongolia’s westernmost province and its people are mostly Kazakh. They speak Kazakh at home, live in winter in stone houses and in summer in the kiiz uy, the Kazakh felt tent, which is taller and more richly decorated inside than a Mongolian ger. Hunting with golden eagles is a Kazakh tradition. A hunter, a berkutchi, takes a female eaglet from a nest, trains her over months and hunts fox and hare with her through the winter, when pelts are thick. After some years the bird is released back to the wild to breed. The festival is a gathering of these families, not a performance built for visitors, although visitors now come.
What happens over two days
Day one opens with a parade. Hunters in fox-fur hats and embroidered coats ride past the judges with their eagles hooded on a wooden rest on the saddle. Points go for the turnout of horse, hunter and bird. Then the main event begins. A hunter rides down onto the plain while a helper releases his eagle from the ridge above. The eagle must find her hunter among the crowd and land on his arm. Some come down in seconds. Some circle, distracted, and the crowd groans. Day two is the eagle’s real test: a fox pelt is dragged behind a galloping horse and the bird is released to strike it.
Between the eagle rounds come the horse games. Kokpar, a tug of war over a goat carcass between two mounted teams. Tenge ilu, in which a rider at full gallop leans down to snatch a coin from the ground. Kyz kuar, where a woman chases a man on horseback and whips him if she catches him. Everyone laughs. Camel racing and an archery contest fill the gaps.
How we attend it
The festival ground is open, and a crowd builds by mid-morning around the judging area. We do not queue for it. We arrive early with the hunters, because we know several families, and we spend the first hour among them as they ready the birds. You will hold an eagle, with a glove, and feel how heavy she is. When the events start we choose a place on the slope with a clear view of the release ridge and stay out of the line along the rope. Our guide explains what the judges are looking for, because it is not obvious. Lunch is taken with a family in their tent, and we return for the afternoon rounds.
Before and after the festival
The festival is two days. The journey around it is what makes it worth flying across the country. We ride out from Ölgii to a hunter’s winter home in the Altai foothills for two or three days beforehand, and go out on horseback with him and his eagle at dawn, when he actually hunts. This is quieter and, for most guests, more moving than the festival itself. Afterwards there is Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, with its glaciers, the petroglyph valleys and the lakes at Khoton and Khurgan. Early October is late for the high park but still workable in a good year, and we watch the weather with you.
Weather and what to wear
Ölgii sits at about 1,700 metres and the festival ground is exposed. Mornings in October are below freezing, afternoons in the sun can be pleasant, and the wind decides the difference. Bring a down jacket, thermals, a warm hat, mittens and boots with two pairs of socks. You will stand still for long stretches. A folding stool is not a bad idea.
Getting there
Ölgii is a domestic flight from Ulaanbaatar of around three hours, then a short drive. Flights fill early in festival week, so we hold seats as soon as you commit to dates. In the west we drive our own Land Cruisers on tracks, not roads, and distances are long. Two nights in Ulaanbaatar bracket the trip: one at V28 or Otugi before the flight west, one after.
Talk to us
We design private journeys only, and the Eagle Festival is one we plan a year ahead because of flights and the families involved. Write to us. Someone who lives here replies within four hours in office time. No price list until we have talked.
