July in Mongolia

Recommended tours: Naadam Festival, The Best of Mongolia
Average temperature: 24.5°C (76.1°F)

July is the peak travel season in Mongolia. The highlight of the month is the Naadam Festival, which is the biggest national holiday of Mongolia. Naadam, locally termed “Three Games of Men”, comprises wrestling, horse racing, and archery competitions. The festival’s origin dates to nearly 2000 years ago when it was a form of practice for war. Public competitions were exercised as organized events before and after major battles to select leaders for troops that were divided up based on the decimal system. The official Naadam of the state is held on11-13th of July in Ulaanbaatar. Many of the 21 provinces and its 333 sum(s), small administrative unit(s), of Mongolia, also organize the festival on earlier or later dates in July depending on local anniversaries and pasture or herd conditions. Naadam has a grand scale in Ulaanbaatar as the country’s top wrestlers, horse trainers, and archers gather from all corners of Mongolia to compete at the national level over the most prestigious titles and prizes. The locals dress in their most colorful traditional costumes and take part in the opening ceremony featuring art performances, long and short songs, folk dance, and colorful parade of horsemen. During state Naadam, the national stadium grounds, deserted for the better part of the year, turn into a lively ger city, where food, toys, traditional items, and other things are sold. Yet to travelers, the Naadam festival in the countryside might be more appealing as it offers close interactions with joyous nomads.

Also, in July, Tsaatan Festival is held in northern Mongolia, to publicize the unique lifestyle of the Tsaatan or Reindeer People. The event features reindeer race, reindeer polo, folk concerts, shaman ceremony, and mini Naadam with 32 wrestlers. The Yak Festival, in the Orkhon Valley, is another important prominent festival of July. The valley has one of the highest concentrations of yaks in the world. The event includes yak racing, yak riding, milking contests, and mini Naadam with horse racing, wrestling, and archery tournaments. Take the Best of Mongolia tour to see all these events at once!