GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR (2026)

This year, the 26th Annual Golden Eagle Festival will take place in the Shar Nuur (15km from Olgii) on October 3-4, 2026!

The Bayan-Ulgiy province is well known as the home of nomadic eagle hunters and the heart of the Altai Mountains. About 100 eagle hunters come to take part in competitions and traditional horse games of nomads.

Come and enjoy the stunning landscape that is covered with ancient mountains, rivers, and Mongolian history. Join us to watch a great festival with truly great hunters!

Tour Info

What to expect from the Golden Eagle festival?

At the Golden Eagle Festival, Eagle Hunters will be exhibiting the traditional Kazakh arts of eagle hunting and participating in a number of traditional nomadic horse games, camel races, and archery competitions.

The Eagle Hunters show off their traditional Kazakh clothes called “shapans“, which display a number of beautiful Kazakh designs and styles. The games being played are called “Kokpar“, where two men on horseback wrestle over the skin of a goat, racing through the steppe. “Tyin ilu“, or coin taking, is where the participants race through the steppe, picking up coins along their path.

Specially trained golden eagles will be competing in the two-day festival. For the first day, the eagle will fly from the hillside and land on its master’s arm. On the second day, the eagle will descend and grab hold of a fox skin being held by the professional golden eagle hunter.

For the competition, awards and prizes are given to those eagle hunters and their magnificent golden eagles based on speed and skill. Come and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience with the Discover Altai Team!

Hunting with eagle

The art of eagle hunting has been practiced for centuries in Eurasia. It is traditionally passed down from father to son, and today it can be visited in the remote corners of the Altai Mountains.

The Bayan-Ulgii province of Mongolia is the westernmost part of the country, where nomadic Kazakhs are famous for their hospitality and traditional hunting with the golden eagles. There are currently over 250 eagle hunters. The biggest golden eagle festival takes place in this province every first weekend of October.

Nomadic Kazakhs treat the eagle like a member of the family and they believe that when you have an eagle, evil will stay away from the family. The boys learn to hunt with eagles at the age of 10-13 and in the beginning, they will watch how their father or uncle trains his eagles.

The best time to visit an eagle hunter’s family

The best time to visit an eagle hunter’s family is from mid-September to March. Discover Altai team offers you a variety of eagle hunting tours in western Mongolia. Hunting with an eagle is an honor for men and a majestic connection between birds and people. It used to be a way to get meat and skin, but nowadays it’s more of a traditional sport.

The eagle hunters capture the eagle from their nest which is located on a high and steep rock. On average, eagles live 30 to 40 years. Hunters release their eagles after 5-8 years. It’s always an emotional moment when the eagle hunter releases his eagle. Therefore, for this, they choose a new and distant place to set themselves free in the wild.

Eagle hunters only use female eagles because they are much larger and more aggressive. Their main prey is mammals such as foxes, hares, and marmots.  The wingspan of the eagle reaches two meters, and the weight is about 6 kilograms. It is not easy to train an eagle, in the summer it needs to be fed daily, and they really eat a lot. This helps them change their feathers yearly and get ready for hunting season in mid-September.

In western Mongolia, you can also meet falconers who hunt with their specially trained falcons. Falcons are faster and are the best option when you are going to hunt small animals like hares.

Golden Eagle Festival

More than a hundred eagle hunters compete in the annual competition of Golden Eagle Festival and demonstrate their hunting skills. The competition consists of two stages, in which the eagle hunters call the eagle from the hillside. Prizes will be awarded based on several factors such as flight speed, prey detection accuracy, dive technique, and destination.

How to become an eagle hunter?

First of all, you need passion and learn more about magical creatures like the golden eagle. It is also important to be a shepherd who lives in a large area and will hunt with his eagle in the mountains on horseback. But you always can visit western Mongolia and our Discover Altai team will guide you to the remotely located eagle hunter’s family where you can be a part of real eagle hunting.

This is a package tour with a local support team. Also, the tour itinerary includes trekking on horses and visiting a nomadic eagle hunter’s family. Come and Enjoy the gorgeous Mongolian Altai!