The Mongolian Sports Festival
Explore the culture and heritage of Mongolia at this annual folk music, dance and food celebration. Most people come to see the traditional Mongolian wrestling (make sure to check out the wrestlers’ amazing underoos) along with demonstrations of archery and tug of war.
Mongolian Naadam Festival
Saturday, July 11, 2015 | Noon to 5 pm
Hellman Hollow (West Meadow), Golden Gate Park.
$8 adults; kids are free
Mongolian Wrestling & Dancing
The main attraction of Naadam is the wrestling competition. Wearing amazingly tight and colorful underwear, the goal of the match is to get your opponent to touch his upper body, knee or elbow to the ground. One of the defining features of Mongolian wrestling is a dance where wrestlers perform as they enter and exit the contest field.
“Horse” Racing
Back in Mongolia, up to 1,000 horses from any part of Mongolia can be chosen to participate. For the Naadam Festival here in San Francisco, the kids are footracing with toy horses.
Mongolian Archery
The third main sport of Naadam is Mongolian archery where the targets are short wooden tubes with a little ball inside that are placed on top of each other to form a pyramid.
Sheep Ankle Bones
Another popular Naadam activity is the playing of games using shagai, or sheep anklebones. The participants
Food & Vendor Booths
There will be a food booths that will serve the main dish of Naadam, “khushuur,” deep-fried pockets of dough stuffed with minced beef or lamb, garlic and onions. The will be a booths with a variety of Mongolian handmade souvenirs, paintings and other local flair that Mongolian artists will bring.
