Shandur Polo Festival

The freestyle contest

Polo here follows loose, traditional guidelines rather than modern international standards. Matches pit six horseback riders against another six, with several substitutes ready for replacements. A match runs for sixty minutes, broken into two thirty-minute periods with a brief ten-minute rest between halves. The field is bordered by low stone ridges instead of wooden rails, creating a tight playing area that tests horsemanship. Riders rarely wear protective headgear, and horses play without leg wrappings. The side that strikes the ball into the goal the most times wins the contest, culminating in a final championship match on the third day.

Selection and tournament format

Preparation begins weeks earlier in the valleys of Chitral and Gilgit. Local panels hold trial fixtures to assess the agility of the horses and the skill of the riders before picking the final squads. Both districts enter multiple tiers of teams, labelled from A to D, ensuring that several levels of competitors get onto the pitch. The tiered structure creates a full schedule of games leading up to the main trophy face-off. During the mid-match pauses, local performers take to the ground, entertaining the seated crowds with regional folk dance and traditional instrumentation.

Founding and local history

Colonel Evelyn Hey Cobb initiated the mountain polo contest in 1930. According to local accounts, Cobb wanted to compensate a helpful local figure named Kakakhail, who turned down personal wealth and requested that nearby rivers receive fish instead. Cobb arranged for live trout to be brought from Britain and released into the Ghizer River. That decision led to the creation of a regional fisheries department. Today, the festival is backed by the authorities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan along with the Frontier Corps, sustaining a sporting tradition rooted in historical cavalry exercises.

How Shandur Polo Festival is kept

Supporters and riders gather on the high plateau where a temporary tent camp is pitched for several days. Juries select the finest players from Gilgit and Chitral across four team tiers. Matches take place across three consecutive days, with six riders per side competing on the stone-edged turf. During half-time breaks, folk musicians play and dancers perform for the spectators. The team with the highest goal tally takes the match, building towards the deciding championship game on the final afternoon.

When and where

The festival takes place every year during the second week of July, starting on 7 July and ending with the final match on 9 July.

Matches are held on the Shandur plateau, perched at 3,700 metres in the Golaghmuli Valley along the border between Chitral District and Gupis-Yasin District in northern Pakistan.

Questions people ask about Shandur Polo Festival

See also

NowruzThe Iranian new year at the March equinox, kept with fire, greenery and picnicsHoliA spring festival of colours and bonfires that marks the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.Maha ShivaratriA Hindu night of fasting and vigil dedicated to Shiva, marking his divine union with Parvati.Raksha BandhanA Hindu festival where sisters tie a protective thread on their brothers' wrists to mark their bond.

Good reading and sources

• GILGIT: Scouts accused of expanding encroachmentsDawn, Article
• GILGIT: Scouts accused of expanding encroachmentsDawn, Article

• Shandur Polo Festival on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.