Golden Eagle Festival Mongolia: Dates & How to Get Tickets
One of the most popular festivals in Mongolia, the annual Golden Eagle Festival happens every year the first weekend of October. Here’s how to buy tickets and what to expect as you watch more than 80 eagle hunters compete.
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Each year, roughly 2,000 tourists fly in from around the world to see the largest gathering of eagle hunters in Mongolia. Over the first weekend in October (always Saturday and Sunday), more than 80 eagle hunters compete in three categories measuring the speed, accuracy, and agility of their trained golden eagles. Take it from me, it’s one of the coolest and most unique events you can attend in Mongolia! Especially if you get to know one of the eagle hunters competing!
The last time I attended the Golden Eagle Festival back in 2024 I was amazed at how well this event was organized. Since the festival started back in 1999 as a way to protect and promote this unique cultural heritage, the local eagle hunters’ association has done a great job growing the festival into what it is today.
As the largest competition for eagle hunters in Mongolia, winning this competition is a huge deal. Not only do the eagle hunters gain instant notoriety, but the grand prize is usually equal to a few million tugrik given as cash or a gift like a motorcycle.
But winning is no easy task. Saturday is usually spent narrowing down the competitors to the top 10. The top 10 will then compete against one another on Sunday, while other traditional Kazakh games are played throughout the day. I recommend attending both days of the festival, and getting there early enough each day to secure good seats around the sectioned off area. You’ll want to bring your own chairs to sit in throughout the day and dressing warm is a must. Western Mongolia this time of year is no stranger to snow, freezing temperatures, and strong winds.
The Golden Eagle Festival marks the start of the eagle hunting season, which happens September to March every year. The reason why eagle hunters only hunt during fall and winter is because they hunt for rabbit, foxes, and Pallas’ Cats for their fur. During these months their fur is at it’s fullest. Once one of these animals are caught, the meat is fed to the eagle and the hunter uses the fur to make warm clothing to survive the long winter months. Eagle hunters never hunt in the spring or summer and if they do, it’s only for tourism purposes.
Below I explain everything you need to know about Mongolia’s Golden Eagle Festival, including what dates it’s held annually, how to get tickets, what you need to know to attend, and more.
First time Visiting Mongolia? Here's Where to Start
Understanding how things work in Mongolia can be confusing. Here are some things I’d book for my first trip to the country.
🚕 Airport Transfer into Ulaanbaatar
Book your airport transfer before you land. Ulaanbaatar taxis are chaotic and this is worth the peace of mind.
🛌 Where to Stay
My picks at every budget, all within walking distance of the main square:
→ Hostel One: best hostel in the city for solo travelers
→ Urgoo Hotel: locally owned boutique spot, great value and location
→ H9 Hotel Nine: steps from Sukhbaatar Square, ideal for first-time visitors
→ Best Western Premier Tuushin: 4-star hotel next to Sukhbaatar Square, super comfortable
👉 Make the Most of Your Time in Ulaanbaatar
If you have extra days, these are the day tours and 1-day experiences that start and end in Ulaanbaatar I’d actually recommend:
→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Guided City Tour with Car
→ Cooking Class in a Local Home
→ Mongolian Traditional Dance & Music Concert Ticket
→ Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue & Terelj National Park
→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Nomad Horseback Ride + Homemade Lunch
The Golden Eagle Festival
Started in 1999 by the local eagle hunters’ association, the Golden Eagle Festival has been around for more than 27 years.
The two-day attracts more than 80 eagle hunters from around Mongolia who come together to compete for the title and respect of being the festival winner.
Hunters and their eagles are tested in three categories: speed, agility, and accuracy. These are tested by hunters having a partner release their eagles into the sky and calling them in the distance. The 10 fastest eagles to land on their hunter’s arm move on to the final round. Calling them and using bait, typically a fox leg, tests the eagle, especially with all the spectators gathered around. In these instances some eagles fail to reach their eagle hunter in the designated time while other eagles truly impress the crowd by going straight to their eagle hunter within seconds. It’s truly mesmerizing to watch these expertly trained creatures dive through the air in pursuit of their targets, meeting their hunter who is typically on horseback.
While at the eagle festival, travelers can indulge in local foods such as buuz (steamed dumplings) and khuushuur (fried pastry). They eat horse in this part of Mongolia, so be prepared to have your tsuvian come with dried horse meat instead of mutton.
Camel races, Mongolian throat singing, and morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) performances are also a part of the experience.
With its vibrant displays of culture and heritage along with some spectacular falconry demonstrations, attending the Golden Eagle Festival is one of the most memorable experiences you can have in Mongolia.
Where is the Golden Eagle Festival held?
Each year, the Golden Eagle Festival is held each year in Bayan-Olgii, Mongolia, the most western province of Mongolia. The festival takes place on Sayat Hill in Bugat Soum, just 4 kilometers from the provincial capital, Olgii. Because the festival is held so close to Olgii, guests can easily stay at one of the hotels in Olgii and drive to and from the festival each day.
Since you’ll be sitting outside in cold weather all day, I highly recommend staying in a hotel in Olgii instead of a ger camp or doing a homestay with a family. If you would like to do a homestay with a local family, I recommend doing that before the festival, while temperatures might be a bit milder.
The most complicated part about attending the Golden Eagle Festival is getting from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii.
How to Get from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii
To get from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii, the fastest way is by domestic flight. If you plan to book a domestic flight from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii, you should book your tickets in March or April. If you try to book a flight after April, tickets are likely to be sold out. This is due to high demand and very few carrier options. Domestic airlines that fly from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii at this time of year are MIAT and Hunnu Air.
If you are unable to secure a flight to Olgii from Ulaanbaatar, you can alternatively fly into Khovd. Khovd to Olgii is a three hour drive on a new paved road.
To book a flight to Olgii or Khovd from Ulaanbaatar, I recommend using the local website Tapa.mn, or you can book on Expedia.
Flights to western Mongolia are very limited. Do yourself a favor and book your flight as early as possible. That means no later than July of the same year. If you try to book a flight in July, or closer to the festival, chances are flights will already be booked out. To book a local domestic flight in Mongolia, we recommend booking direct with MIAT or by using the travel booking website Tapa.
Golden Eagle Festival Dates
Every year the Golden Eagle Festival is held on the first Saturday and Sunday in October.
Over the course of the weekend, eagle hunters compete during those two days. If you plan to attend the festival, plan to arrive early on both mornings and spend the full day there. The festival usually concludes around 6 or 7 pm both days.
Note that there is often confusion about the confusion about the eagle festival dates because there are several eagle festivals held in September, also. The eagle festivals held in September are usually smaller and more local feeling. The Golden Eagle Festival is the largest festival, and usually the last one held for the year. For a list of the smaller eagle festivals and their dates, check out my festivals around Mongolia blog post.
A few years ago Ulaanbaatar decided to host an Eagle Festival of their own, which is held annually on the first weekend in March. This festival is great to attend because it’s held on the outskirts of the city and you can stay in the capital without needing to take a domestic flight to the west. The Ulaanbaatar Eagle Festival buses in around 30 eagle hunters from western Mongolia for the event. So, it’s just as exciting!
Weather & Tips for Attending
It’s not uncommon to hear people who’ve attended the Golden Eagle Festival say it’s been the coldest they’ve ever felt. And I feel that.
One of my first trips to western Mongolia in October was genuinely the most cold, most miserable, I’ve ever been while traveling. I did not have the right clothing and I completely underestimated how cold it would be.
On average, during the first weekend of October, when the main Golden Eagle Festival takes place, Olgii is already deep into autumn.
Expect daytime highs of around 8 to 12°C and nighttime lows of about minus 5 to minus 10°C, with the daily average sitting somewhere around 0 to 3°C.
Conditions are typically dry and often sunny, but the wind on the open steppe at the festival grounds can make it feel considerably colder than the thermometer suggests. Early snow flurries aren’t unusual at Olgii’s elevation of roughly 1,700 meters.
The practical takeaway is: festival days mean standing outdoors on exposed steppe for hours, so warm layers, a windproof jacket, hats, and gloves are essential. Mornings start below freezing even when afternoons turn pleasantly mild in the sun.
Festival goes are advised not to wear red as it will distract and could accidently attract the eagle to the wearer.
I also highly suggest not wearing bright colors and to bring binoculars to watch the competition with.
The Eagle Hunters
Most people don’t realize this but Mongolia’s eagle hunters are actually Kazakh in ethnicity. Kazakh’s are Mongolia’s largest minority group and visiting them is a completely different experience from what you’ll have in the rest of Mongolia.
Kazakh traditions are different from Mongolian, and you’ll notice this in the language they speak (Kazakh), the food they eat, and the religion they practice. The majority of Kazakh’s in the west are Muslim, not Buddhist, like the majority of Mongolians.
Because of their religion, western Mongolian Kazakh’s celebrate different holidays (like Nauryz) and alcohol is not sold on Friday throughout the province.
Eagle hunting is unique to this area of Mongolia and has been in practice for thousands of years. Typically, a father will pass the tradition down to his son to carry on. Today, it’s not uncommon to find female eagle hunters, but it’s still rare to find. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend everyone watches the movie The Eagle Huntress before visiting western Mongolia for the Golden Eagle Festival.
Facts about Golden Eagles
For the Kazakh people, the eagle is an important display of strength and pride among eagle hunters.
Training a golden eagle, however, isn’t just a sport or something done for tourism, it genuinely has practical purposes. One of the main reasons for training a golden eagle is for hunting for small game during the cold months. The fur is used to cloth and shelter the eagle hunter and his family while the meat is fed to the eagle. Every part of the animal is used and nothing goes to waste.
Here are some additional facts about golden eagles and eagle hunting:
- Golden eagles are among the largest birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere, with wingspans of around 1.8–2.3 meters (6–7.5 feet) and weights of 3–6 kg. Females are noticeably larger than males.
- Eagle hunters, called berkutchi in Kazakh almost exclusively use female eagles because they’re larger, stronger, and considered more aggressive hunters than males.
- Golden eagles can dive at speeds approaching 240–300 km/h, making them one of the fastest animals on earth after the peregrine falcon.
- Their eyesight is extraordinary — they can spot prey like a hare or fox from over a kilometer away.
- In the wild, golden eagles hunt hares, marmots, foxes, and even young deer or wolves, and can live 30 years or more.
- The species ranges across the Northern Hemisphere, but the Altai Mountains region is one of its strongholds.
- The tradition of hunting with golden eagles is believed to stretch back thousands of years among the nomadic peoples of Central Asia. Some estimates trace it back over 2,000 years, and it’s often cited as one of the oldest forms of falconry in the world.
- Eagles are typically captured young (often taken from the nest or trapped as sub-adults) and trained over several years, developing a famously close bond with their hunter.
- Traditionally, hunters release their eagles back into the wild after roughly 7 years of partnership so the birds can breed. This practice is meant to keep the tradition sustainable.
- Only a few hundred practicing Kazakh eagle hunters remain.
Get Tickets to The Golden Eagle Festival
If you plan to attend the Golden Eagle Festival on your own without the help of a tour company or guide, you can buy tickets at the festival for $50 USD per person.
However, most travelers choose to attend the eagle festival through a company. This is more expensive than attending on your own (which is possible), but the expense can be worth it considering what I mentioned above about domestic flights. Larger tour operators are able to charter flights and have also been known to block out seats on domestic flights during this time period.
Tour companies will also book you in a hotel in Olgii so you can sleep comfortably during the festival. Additionally, they’ll take care of all the transportation to and from the festival grounds and you’ll be with a local guide who can help with translations and explaining the local culture in detail.
We recommend looking for a company that uses guides who are ethnically Kazakh and from western Mongolia for the best experience.
Here are a few tours I recommend contacting if you’re interested in attending the Eagle Festival:
How ethical is Eagle Hunting?
I know when most people learn about this tradition, they have questions about how ethical eagle hunting is in Mongolia. But, before you say anything, just remember this: this isn’t your culture.
Attending the festival with an open mind is an important part of enjoying this experience. The practice of hunting with eagles has been going on for thousands of years, and there’s a reason for that. Life in this part of the world is tough and until you’ve lived this way, and had to survive winter temperatures of -40 Celsius/Fahrenheit, you will never fully understand what it takes to survive.
Eagle hunters carefully train their eagles to ensure it doesn’t lose its natural tendencies. This means when they release it back into the wild after 7 years the eagle will be able to survive on it’s own. This also helps ensure the wild population can continue to grow and survive.
Hunting is always a topic for debate, but these practices have been essential to the survival of these nomadic families for thousands of years.
If you don’t agree with any of these practices, and you aren’t willing to try to understand them, no one is forcing you to attend the eagle festival. So, please don’t.
Author: Breanna Wilson
Hi! Sain uu! I’m Breanna, an American travel writer and adventurer living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for more than 9 years. I’ve written for and been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, Forbes, and the New York Times, among others. Read more of my Mongolia travel articles here.
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