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At Mongolia’s winter festival, yurts, music and milk tea serve as odes to nomadic culture

Event in Ulaanbaatar highlighted traditional culture through dance, music, food and more and was intended to boost tourism in coldest months

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Musicians in traditional Mongolian dress perform during the nomadic culture festival in Ulaanbaatar. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse

A festival in a frigid park on the edge of the world’s coldest capital in February might not sound like a crowd-puller – but in Mongolia an inaugural celebration of nomadic culture was in fine fettle last week.

The seven-day event is part of authorities’ efforts to boost tourism during the country’s bitter winters, when temperatures can drop to below minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit).

Though it was far warmer than that, a persistent wind whipped around glittering, metres-high ice sculptures as visitors ducked in and out of the round yurt tents set up to showcase Mongolia’s various provinces.

“There was no particular thing that surprised me very much, but … it was really nice to get an update and a refresher on our traditional culture,” Ulaanbaatar resident Darkhan Altantsetseg said.
A man in traditional Mongolian dress stands outside a Mongolian yurt during the seven-day festival part of efforts to boost tourism during the country’s bitter winters. Photo: AFP
A man in traditional Mongolian dress stands outside a Mongolian yurt during the seven-day festival part of efforts to boost tourism during the country’s bitter winters. Photo: AFP
A man in Mongolian dress dances inside a yurt during the festival. Photo: AFP
A man in Mongolian dress dances inside a yurt during the festival. Photo: AFP

“It’s a nice way of reminding us that our culture is so rich.”

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