Mongolian Golden Eagle Festival and Eagle Hunters

Golden Eagle Festival is a cultural and adventurous attraction for both local and foreign travelers and photographers. It is not just a festivity, but also is an ancient hunting tradition and unique cultural heritage of Kazakh minority of Mongolia. The festival has been captivating visitors from all over the world by showcasing wonderful falconry tradition, thrilling horse competitions and many interesting activities since 2000. Golden Eagle Festival is now one of the must-see events in Asia, especially in Mongolia. 

What to see at The Golden Eagle Festival?

This fascinating festival is held in the Western part of Mongolia by local Kazakh minority to bring and promote their heritage to their next generation and to the world. Local Kazakhs show their eagle hunting culture and their unique traditions. It starts with the opening parade with well-dressed hunters and is about authentic competitions of eagle training skills and hunting with golden eagles. Specially trained eagles catch small stuffed animals such as foxes and hares. In addition, some uncommon cultural events and small competitions are organized including, traditional coin grabbing game while riding on horseback, Uriankhai archery competition. After enjoying the festival you can visit the local theatre to enjoy the folk performance in the Ulgii town.  

How to get to the Eagle Hunting Festival?

The festival takes place in Bayan-Ulgii the westernmost province near the borders of Russia, China, and Mongolia. You can get there by domestic plane or 4*4 vehicle. You should book the local flight ticket as early as possible. In last years the visitors have been dramatically increasing, so the local airlines offer charter flights to the festival. But booking is still tend to be full. The flight duration is one and a half hour, or 3 hours which depends on the airlines and stop-overs or direct flights. 
The other way to travel to the Eagle Festival is hiring a local driver with a car or by public transport. Distance of Bayan-ulgii from Ulaanbaatar, capital city is about 1,700 km and it takes 2 days to get there by car. 

The easiest way is to book a package trip to the festival and the local tour operator companies arrange all inclusive tours. 

What to eat during Eagle festival tour?

There are several temporary ger-restaurants around the festival which offer traditional Kazakh, Mongolian and western style meals. You should eat in the ger-restaurant because the temperature may drop to 0 Celsius degree and weather is unpredictable so it is better to eat in comfort and warm place. We, the  Ayan Travel have been annually arranging the Golden Eagle Festival tour since it was first held, and offering professional service to our clients. We provide cozy ger/yurt to our clients for staying warm, relaxing and having lunch at the festival.  

Where to sleep?

The festival is held about 7km far from the Ulgii town, so it is possible to stay in town hotels and tourist ger camps. Or you can pitch your tent near the festival, but note the temperature in the high mountainous area.  

To advise you: you should book the PACKAGE TRIPS TO THE GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL which is organized by a professional and experienced local tour operator. They make all trip arrangements including accommodation, transportation, local flights, meals, and tour guide.

The Golden Eagle 

Here we provide some facts related to the Golden eagle and eagle hunters /berkutchi/, how they hunt together, how they train eagles, are all the golden eagles become hunting birds, when the hunter bird is released to the wild, etc...

•    Golden Eagles (Aquila Chrysacty) are born for hunting; they have incredible speed, great eyesight, and powerful feet with sharp talons. 
•    The second fastest bird for hunting on earth. 
•    They have an average lifespan of between 15-20 years.
•    They can live in many different types of climate; from the fringe of the Arctic zone to hot desert and do not migrate.
•    The average male weight is 3.6kilograms (8 pounds) and for females is 5 kilograms (11pounds) 
•    Wingspan ranges from around 1.8 meters (6 feet) to nearly 2.5 meters (8 feet) 
•    Their diet is mainly small animals such as foxes, hares, and mice

The relationship between Hunters and Eagles

It can’t be imagined that the Kazakh men are without eagles because eagle hunting has become a tradition for some 6000 years. There are many tales and stories about the eagle’s power and eye among the Kazakhs. The eagle is the most respectful animal for the Kazakh people, after they bring a new eagle to their home that eagle becomes one of the family members and has a special holly area in the home/yurt of its human master.

About the eagle training: Men bring the female eaglet from her nest for training to hunt because the female eagle is stronger and bigger than the male. After bringing it, all the elders garter and then they name their eagle and make some welcoming rituals. After 6 or 7 years of hunting the eagle must be released back to the wild. Hunters give whole mutton to the eagle when sending them /eagle/ to the wild nature and they have to be held the farewell rituals. This is so tragic moment for both the hunter and the eagle.

After training the golden eagles during the warm season, the eagle can be ready to hunt with its master. The hunting season starts from the beginning of October when the first snow falls and continues until the 15th of March. During springtime, they don't go hunting because the prey's mating season starts. So during this time, the eagles are fed by their human masters with domestic animals' meat. When summer comes, the eagles are allowed to hunt small mammals, such as mice, marmots, and hares.

Teenage Film Star-Aishol Pan, the Eagle Huntress

According to the history of eagle hunting in Mongolia, there were no huntresses who used eagles. But in 2014, The teenage huntress participated in and won the eagle hunting competition during the annual Golden Eagle Festival in Western Mongolia. She is now a well-known film star in the world.  Visit here to check out the Facts about Aishol-pan.

Taking Portraits of Kazakh Nomads 

If you are a photographer or portrait photography lover this is the must-visit festival to shoot strange and unique faces.

Here we updated our blog pages with the interesting stories, travel tips, photo news and inspiration from our customers, tour guides, the team and the latest travel news which are all about the about the Eagle Hunting in Mongolia.

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