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Every year Mongolian people celebrate “Tsagaan Sar,” or the “White Moon” Lunar New Year, around when winter turns into spring. The exact dates of the holiday depend on the lunar calendar. Usually, it is held during the new moon at the end of January or in February. Tsagaan Sar celebrates the end of winter and welcomes the promise of a bountiful new year. It symbolizes a healthy, wealthy life. People start their preparations for Tsagaan Sar one month before the festivities begin. Families make hundreds, and even thousands, of buuz (steamed dumplings) and bansh (small boiled dumplings). Traditionally, family and friends visit each other’s homes and exchange presents and well-wishes during Tsagaan Tsar, which lasts for 3 days, so each family makes sure to prepare enough dumplings, meat, salads, sweets, and drinks to receive all of their guests. While the food is being prepared, the home is cleaned. The gers, barns and animal yards must be as clean as possible. The women make new deels (traditional Mongolian clothes) for every member of the family.

Though the weather is quite cold, Tsagaan Tsar is the warmest example of the famous Mongolian hospitality. No expense is spared, as this is the holiday nearest and dearest to the hearts of Mongolians. Any visitors who brave the cold and snow will be well rewarded with a holiday experience unlike any other.

Every year, the Blue Pearl of Mongolia, Lake Khovsgol, completely freezes over. The annual 2-day Ice Festival is celebrated during the first weekend in March on the frozen lake outside the small town of Khatgal, at the southern border of the Siberian forest. Started to promote both national and international tourism during the off-season, the festival’s main events include ice sculpting, ice sumo, ice ankle bone shooting and horse sled races. This festival is a fun and unique way to see one of Mongolia’s most beloved national treasures.

The Golden Eagle festival is a traditional annual festival held in the province of Bayan Ölgii during the first weekend of October. The Mongolian Association of falconers organizes it, and it is a celebration of the unique eagle hunting styles of western Kazakh Mongolians. It marks the beginning of the hunting season. At the festival, visitors can see the remarkable skills of the eagles and their hunting partners, as well as experience traditional Kazakh-Mongolian food, games, and culture.

Another similar, smaller festival takes place each year in the neighboring village of Sagsai during the third weekend of September.

This one-day event is arranged by the Chingisiin Khuree Tourist Ger Camp, together with the governor’s office of Bayan Ulgii Province. Eagle hunters from the Altai Mountains, the region famous for perfecting eagle hunting, travel to Ulaanbaatar to take part in the festival, which is the smaller version of the Bayan Ulgii Golden Eagle Festival held in Western Mongolia in October. Also exhibited are traditional Kazakh games and horse competitions.

The Thousand Camel Festival, held annually in the Gobi Desert, is a celebration of the endangered Bactrian camel and the role it plays in the lives of the Gobi’s nomads. This festival boasts events such as camel races, polo, Mongolian traditional music and dance performances, and Kazakh eagle hunting and horse-riding demonstrations.

Nauryz is the New Year celebration of the ethnic Kazakh Mongolians, most of whom live in Bayan Ulgii province in the far west of Mongolia. The month of March is called ‘Nauryz’ in Kazakh, and it is the time of spring and the ushering in of renewed life. The non-religious Nauryz celebrations occur during the spring equinox, on March 21^st and 22^nd. People believe that the more generous the festivities are, the happier the coming year will be. This is the time to settle all personal differences and debts, and people fill all the containers in their home with milk, yogurt (airan), grains, food, and fresh water to ensure good fortune, rain, and a bountiful harvest. This is the Kazakh version of Tsagaan Tsar, the Lunar New Year.

The Southern Gobi Yak Festival is an annual event held in the beautiful mountainous Gobi region called Yoliin Am, or “Vulture’s Gorge,” in Umnugovi Province. The festival is a celebration of traditional practices of Yak breeding, and nowadays is a way to increase the Yak population of the Gobi, support local Yak herders, and increase public awareness of this lesser-known animal. Yak herders from 6 different regions in the Gobi gather to participate in games, Yak races, and beauty competitions (for the Yaks, usually). In addition, yak goods like wool, milk, dairy products, and clothes are sold.

The biggest version of the Mongolian Summer Festival, called Naadam, is held in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, in the National Sports Stadium from July 11 – 13. Naadam, particularly in Ulaanbaatar, begins with an elaborate introduction ceremony featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians. This opening ceremony is extremely popular with locals and international travelers. After the ceremony, the competitions begin. There are three main games played during Naadam: Traditional Mongolian wrestling, horse-back riding, and archery. In addition, the Mongolian game Shagai, played with sheep ankles, is featured.

Mongolia has 21 provinces and 360 soums (small administrative divisions), and each hosts its own Naadam celebration. Every province decides their own festival date and, in general, so does each soum. Typically, the smaller the event, the more likely it is that the date won’t be set until a few weeks before. Soum Naadams are very different from the huge blowout in Ulaanbaatar. They are typically attended by local community members, and most of the competitors come from the surrounding towns. They tend to be more relaxed, and have a more home-town-festival feel.

Kharkhorin will celebrate the Naadam festival from July 8, 9

Stay at Gaya’s guesthouse in Kharkhorin to experience this wonderful holiday. You can watch horse racing with 5 different ages of horses, wrestling of young people and adults, and try lots of delicious traditional foods. People flock to towns and villages during Naadam, all wearing their traditional clothes. It is great to see. There will be traditional singing, dancing, and poetry to top off all the excitement of Naadam.

The Yak Festival is one of the most important festivals in Mongolia. It’s held each year on the 23rd of July in the Orkhon Valley (Ulaan tsutgalan) in Bat Ulzii Soum, in Ovorhangai Province (central Mongolia), near the famous Orkhon Waterfall. Yaks have great value for nomadic herders. There will be yak racing, yak polo and a yak beauty pageant (although what makes one yak more or less beautiful than another is not always clear). Local people sell milk, felt, and wool products.