Thousand Camel Festival

The Thousand Camel Festival   6 and 7 March, annually

Thousand Camel Festival is a wonderful winter festival and cultural introduction to the life of Mongolian camel herders. The Mongolian Camel Festival has been organized since 1997 after its first initiation to protect and increase the two-humped Bactrian camel population, help the nomads to exchange experiences, increase the benefit of camels, improve locals’ participation in the natural protection and recovery, develop winter tourism, support the livelihood of the locals, introduce the camel herder Gobi desert nomads’ culture locally and internationally. The Camel Festival is not a tourist event anymore. This is one of the biggest celebrations and festivals the Gobi desert nomads prepare and excitedly wait. The Camel Festival has a significant influence on the value of the camels. Head of the Gobi desert camels has increased from 192.000 to 460.000 nationwide. The camel's head grows slowly as a camel's colt after 2 years. The Camel Festival of 2016 was an exceptional celebration - over 6000 camels and 10.000 people gathered. The Guinness Record book registered the 1200 two-humped camel race organized on the Gobi desert steppes.

The Camel Festival two-day events and competitions

·         Camel Polo – Teams consist of 5 members who play with 8 diameter balls and 130 to 140 cm mallets

·         Camel parade- The 100 camel parade is marvelous. Tourists are always welcome to participate in this event by riding one of the camels

·         Attractive couple with beautiful camels – the criteria and contest score is 50% and 50% both for the camels and couples. Traditionally dressed coupe ride beautifully decorated, same color camels. The couple’s children participation with their parent is a great contribution to some of the missing traditions and deliver the cultural heritage from one generation to the next generation

·          Mongolian traditional game of Ice Anklebone Shooting

·          Camel races of 3 different age categories- full-grown camel race, 3-year-old camel race, and 2-year-old camel race

·         Concert of the local schoolchildren

·         Local club party – This is not a disco club or similar. You will spend an evening dancing with locals in the town’s cultural hall

·          Team competition – Teams consisting of 5 members contest at their agility and ability. Each member has their duty. The team members catch one of the untamed camels from the field, cut its wool to make a halter, and train the camel for approximately 20-30 minutes. Afterward, they load luggage within the given time, and the camel caravan leaves

·         The local camel and sheep wool product exhibition supports the local community's income

·         Opportunity to try camel milk dairy products

·         The festival closing and prizes for the winners. The prize amount of winner camels increased except for the camels’ value increase

The Camel Festival Location

The Camel Festival takes place at Bulgan town in Umnugobi/Southgobi province located 680 km from Ulaanbaatar. Due to the low season, domestic flight does not operate in March. Some aviation companies operate a flight depending on the reservation.
The best way to travel to Bulgan town is by driving 580 km on paved roads and 100 km on rough roads. You can take the same road when returning to Ulaanbaatar or travel back through Kharkhorin and Orkhon Valley. Bulgan town is central in terms of location, allowing the camel herders to participate in the festival traveling appropriate distances. Another advantage of the Camel Festival location is it is close to the famous attractions of the Gobi desert. The audience can see the top attractions such as Khongor sand dunes, Flaming Cliffs, Khavtsgait Rock Drawing, Noltsog Sand dunes, Mukhar Shivert Valley, and Eagle Valley in Gobi Gurban Saikhan Mountain adding 2-3 extra days.

Where to stay during the Camel Festival?

The seasonal tourist accommodation ger camps do not work in winter. Therefore, you can stay at the provincial center hotels before and after the festival. The provincial center is 100 km from Bulgan town where the Camel Festival takes place. In Bulgan town, you will stay extra gers of the town families or in their houses. So, you will observe the locals' life and learn more about the Gobi desert people's culture.