When is the Golden Eagle Festival?
The first weekend of October each year, on the Sayat Tolgoi grounds outside Ulgii city in Bayan-Ölgii province. The festival has been held annually since 1999. The two main festival days are usually a Saturday and Sunday with the awards ceremony on the second day. The 8-day tour is timed specifically around these two days, with the surrounding days for the petroglyphs, the lakes, the Altai, and the eagle hunter family visit.
What happens at the Golden Eagle Festival?
Around 80 to 100 active eagle hunters compete across traditional categories: how the eagle responds to its hunter from a high cliff release, the eagle's accuracy on a fox-fur lure dragged behind a horse, the speed of the call-back. There are also horse-racing, kokpar (a Kazakh horse-and-goat-carcass game), traditional archery, and Kazakh music. The atmosphere is part competition, part community gathering – families travel from across Bayan-Ölgii for the festival.
Why is the festival entrance fee not included?
The Golden Eagle Festival is a separately ticketed event run by a local Bayan-Ölgii committee – not by our operation. The entrance fee (typically around $50 USD per day, paid at the gate) goes directly to the local committee and the eagle hunters, supporting the tradition. We arrange transportation, seating, and access; you pay the entrance fee on the day. Final festival fee confirmed at booking; the committee announces pricing each summer.
Is the festival weather a concern?
Yes. Early October in Bayan-Ölgii is cold – daytime around 5 to 12°C, nights below freezing. The festival happens outdoors at Sayat Tolgoi, an open grass area exposed to wind. Pack winter-grade outerwear (down jacket, insulated gloves, warm hat, base layers, warm socks), even if your home climate makes that feel excessive. The festival runs in any weather short of a major storm; snow is possible.
Is the eagle hunter family visit included?
Yes. Day 5 includes a daytime visit to a Kazakh eagle hunter family in their summer ger, separate from the festival itself. The family visit is a sit-down call: salty milk tea, meeting the hunter and the eagle, learning the training cycle and the winter hunt. It is on the family's terms – not staged. The festival on Days 6 and 7 is a different experience: many hunters together at a competition.
Why fly rather than drive to Bayan-Ölgii?
Bayan-Ölgii is 1,500 kilometers from Ulaanbaatar – around 5 to 7 days driving each direction in October weather. The festival is two days. The 8-day tour with flights is the only practical way to time a trip around the festival without spending the entire trip behind the wheel. Flights run several times a week and take around 3 hours.
What is included in the 8-day tour?
Specific inclusions confirmed at booking; typically: round-trip flight Ulaanbaatar–Ulgii, 4WD vehicle and driver in Bayan-Ölgii, English-speaking guide (Buya), all accommodation (Ulgii hotels and ger camps), all meals on tour, all entrance fees including Altai Tavan Bogd and the Tsagaan Salaa petroglyphs, bottled drinking water, eagle hunter family visit. Excluded: international flights, Ulaanbaatar hotel nights, Golden Eagle Festival entrance fee (around $50/day, paid at festival), optional eagle-handling fees, gratuities. Final inclusions are confirmed in writing before any payment.
What are the Tsagaan Salaa petroglyphs?
A UNESCO World Heritage Site of around 10,000 rock carvings in the upper valley of the Tsagaan Salaa River, spanning from the late Pleistocene (around 11,000 BCE) through the Bronze Age. The carvings show extinct mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, ostriches (Mongolia had ostriches in the Bronze Age), and the early stages of horse domestication. The site is reached by a short hike from the road and is one of the largest petroglyph collections in the world.
How early should I book?
As early as possible. The festival is the only fixed-date Mongolia event of its scale, and accommodation in Ulgii and the limited number of festival-week ger camps fill months in advance. We recommend booking by April or May for the following October. Domestic flights for festival weekend can also fill; we hold our seats early. Late bookings (within 2 to 3 months) sometimes succeed but with limited accommodation choices.
Can I add days to the 8-day tour?
Yes – common additions are an extra day at Altai Tavan Bogd (Day 4 extension for the Potanin Glacier viewpoint), a longer stay with the eagle hunter family (an overnight rather than a daytime visit), or a Khovd province extension (the next province east of Bayan-Ölgii, with different Kazakh and Tuvan communities). Tell us your dates and what you most want to see.
