Naadam

Also: three manly games

Naadam is the national festival of Mongolia, held in July, in which competitors take part in three sports: wrestling, archery and horse racing. The games date back to the days of Genghis Khan's armies. Wrestlers wear a short jacket and briefs and perform an eagle dance before each bout, while archers, both men and women, shoot at targets. The horse race is run across the steppe by children aged five to thirteen, whose horses and trainers are celebrated. Families eat boiled mutton, dumplings called buuz and fermented mare's milk, airag. The main festival is in Ulaanbaatar, and local ones are held in villages.

Region: East Asia

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