Golden Eagle Festival

Kazakh Falconry in the Mongolian Altai

Every October, the steppe outside Ölgii town in Bayan-Ölgii Province fills with riders, horses and golden eagles for one of Mongolia’s most striking cultural events. The Golden Eagle Festival celebrates the Kazakh tradition of hunting with trained golden eagles, a practice known locally as bürkitshi that has been passed from generation to generation among the Kazakh communities of the Altai.

A Living Tradition, Formally Revived

While hunting with eagles among Central Asian peoples stretches back centuries, the modern festival was founded in 1999 by Kazakh community leaders and tour operators seeking to safeguard the practice from decline. What began with around 65 participating hunters has grown into a two-day event drawing over a hundred bürkitshi and hundreds of visitors each year, and golden eagle falconry was recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.

What Happens at the Festival

The festival opens with a parade of hunters on horseback in elaborate fox-fur hats and hand-embroidered coats, eagles perched on their forearms. Judges score competitors on their eagle’s speed, agility and accuracy at swooping to a lure, as well as the rider’s horsemanship and the elegance of traditional dress. The two days also include horse games such as tenge ilu, in which riders snatch coins from the ground at a gallop, along with archery and tug-of-war contests.

Hunter and Eagle

Kazakh falconers train female golden eagles, prized for their larger size and strength, capturing them as juveniles and working with them for around ten years before releasing them back into the wild — a practice meant to let the birds live out a natural life and to replenish wild populations.

Gallery

• Watch eagles compete for speed, agility and accuracy
• See traditional Kazakh dress and hand-crafted hunting gear up close
• Experience tenge ilu and other mounted games
• Meet eagle hunter families in Bayan-Ölgii Province