Top Site Travel Guide Naadam Festival, Mongolia

Author and Editor: Gabriella Grace

The top sites at the Naadam Festival in Mongolia. The epic travel guide for culture, hidden gems, and historical facts.

Mongolia is open for travel in 2022 and the Naadam Festival should be on your bucket list!

The Naadam Festival in Mongolia, has to be the most amazing festival. Think of it as the Mongolian Olympics. The National Naadam Holiday (I attended in 2018) commemorates the 2227th anniversary of the Foundation of the first Mongolian State.

The main event is the opening ceremony held at the Central Stadium in Ulaanbaatar.

1. The Opening Ceremony

Everything has meaning, history, culture, beauty.

Naadam is usually held in early July, the date changes every year. The best way to get tickets, is to have your guest house purchase them for you a few days in advance. Roughly $25 USD per day. You can get discounts if you book early

There are three national Sports:

Wrestling – Archery – Horse racing

All three are a part of the festival, but the opening ceremony is the most awe-inspiring!

You may also see the UNESCO registered World Heritage game of Ankle brown shooting.

Mongolians spend all year planning for this one huge shebang with parades, massive orchestrated dances and traditional storytelling. It was an amazing site.

There is an ancient Mongolian story about how the camel lost its horns. This huge sculpture commemorates that story.

Presenting the 9 white banners during the opening ceremony.

Mass balloon release during the opening ceremony.

Colorful traditional clothing.

Outside the stadium thousands enjoy the huge market set up for the festival.

All the mucky-mucks came to participate in the parades.

Traditional Mongolian Puzzle being released into the sky.

After the opening ceremony, the 3 events take place. They are in various places just outside the city.

2. Wrestling

The wrestler, wearing traditional garb and preform a dance before the competition.

3. Horse races

Who will win?! Children on young horses race during the many mile long event. You will need to get a car/private driver to take you to find where the horse racing takes place in the fields outside the Ulaanbaatar.

 4. Archery

You can watch the archers during the games and also participate! There are target practice games set up all over to join in the fun. Pay a few dollars and sharpen your skills.

Planning our trip to align with Naadam was one of the best travel decisions I’ve made. It’s well worth your time and an amazing culture experience.

Now is the time to start planning! Naadam is set for July 10-15 of 2023. Mongolia is currently open for travel via Chinggis Khan International Airport. Always double check as some boarder fluctuate.

Learn more about the Naadam Festival

Keep Travel Funky.