For the past ten years, camel herders have been meeting annually in the sleepy town of Sainshand to celebrate their animal of choice. The Temenee Nadaam (Camel Festival) is held in provinces around southern Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, where camel herding is most popular. The festival began about a decade ago in an effort to bolster support for the unique Mongolian Bactrian camel (two humps, not one), and the camel herding lifestyle.
Herders from across the province brought their livestock to Sainshand to compete in a variety of games. There were over 100 camels present, and about 400 people.
Camels surrounded the festival area, most of them tied up, but there were always a few who managed to get loose
Festival Activities:
- Parade
- Camel Race
- Fashion Show for Beautiful Couples: Husband-Wife couples dressed up in matching traditional costumes and decked out their camels for this one
- Camel Reign Braiding Race: One line of men whittled a piece of wood for the piece that goes through the nose, while a row of women braided camel hair into rope
- Relay Race: My favorite event, involved Husband-Wife teams. The men first rode the camels around a series of posts, then dismounted, the women took the reins and led the camels through a field of dried dung, which they had to collect and put in their baskets, then the men remounted, rode the camels to an area where they had to throw three darts, and finally raced back to the starting line. Endless fun.
- Camel Polo Tournament: this is exactly what it sounds like.
Camels lined up outside of the Sainshand arena
The main event was the Camel Polo Tournament. Each sum (county) entered a team in the competition to represent them. Thesums also each set up a ger with their flag out front for their festival participants. Anyone was welcome to come in and warm up with some hot milk tea or soup. While we sat in one particular ger, the county’s government official presented each polo team member with special medals, acknowledging their participation. It seemed like a big deal.
Overall, the festival was a real joy. It was a bit cold (but then again, it is in Mongolia). I was able to try camel for the first (and hopefully only) time in my life. And everyone there was truly excited to be participating. It was an event that many people look forward to for months to come.
Now, without further adieu, camel polo:
Sainshand is near a coal coking mine, making it one of southern Mongolia's industrial hotspots
A group of festival-goers pose near the stadium
A newly invented game of camel polo was the main attraction
Two young boys wrestle outside their county's ger
A polo player after finishing a match
Players wave their polo mallets in the air amidst a match
One of about twenty gers erected by the attending county representatives
Participants in the 'Beautiful Couples' fashion competition
Camels on Parade
A band played as camels paraded through the streets of Sainshand
A polo player races his camel through the streets during the parade
The beginning of my favorite event: the camel relay
A competitor throws a dart during the camel relay
A women collects strategically placed dung as part of the relay
These baskets are traditionally used by herders to collect dung, which they use as fuel
A crowd watches the relay competition
Women race to see who can braid a camel hair rope the fastest
Polo players in the central stadium
Players hit each others' mallets after each polo match
