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Experience Mongolia's golden eagles and legendary eagle hunters.

Altai Kazakh Eagle FestivalAltai Kazakh Eagle FestivalAltai Kazakh Eagle FestivalAltai Kazakh Eagle FestivalKokpar

Altai Eagle Festival 2024

Altai Kazakh Eagle Festivalplay_arrow

September 21–22, 2024

Each September, eagle hunters and their trained golden eagles gather outside the town of Ulgii in Mongolia's Altai Mountains for the Altai Eagle Festival.

In cooperation with the eagle hunters, Blue Silk Travel is a long-time supporter and two-time sponsor of this important cultural event.

Classic Trips
Across the Land of Eagles and Nomads
Conversation with Aisholpanplay_arrow

The Golden Eagle

The eagle festival celebrates nomads' relationship with golden eagles, a human-animal partnership made famous world-wide by teenager Aisholpan and the photographs of Asher Svidensky. At the eagle festival, visitors have the opportunity to share in this bond with the eagles.

Music and Merchants at the Eagle Festivalplay_arrow

Kazakh Culture

In addition to eagle hunting, the eagle festival celebrates many aspects of Kazakh culture: food, clothing, embroidery and music, that continue to thrive in Mongolia's remote Altai Mountains.

Hunting with Eaglesplay_arrow

The Tournament

At the festival, hunters bring their golden eagles to the top of a rocky outcropping, and then call them from hundreds of feet away. The eagle festival judges assign scores based on the speed and accuracy of each eagle.

Kokparplay_arrow

Kokpar

The eagle festival also features a variety of other competitions, including kokpar, a sort of tug-of-war between men on horseback using a headless goat carcass.