The Golden Eagle festival, is an annual traditional held in Bayan-\u00d6lgii.\u00a0In the eagle festival, Kazakh eagle hunters celebrate their heritage and compete to catch small animals such as foxes and hares with specially trained golden eagles, showing off the skills both of the birds and their trainers. Prizes are awarded for speed, agility and accuracy, as well as for the best traditional Kazakh dress, and more.<\/p>\n
Some of the hunters traveled for days to reach the festival on horseback. Indeed a very tiring journey.. but its important for them to do this , to maintain their culture and tradition.<\/p>\n
This year has the most number of hunters participating. There are 92 of them, and 6 young girls as well. And of cos there is Ashol Pan, , who was the winner of the 2014 golden eagle festival at the age of 13. She was also featured in the documentary Eagle Huntress<\/p>\n
This is my 2nd year conducting a photography workshop for the Golden Eagle Festival
\nBesides the Festival, we interacted with the locals, and find out more about the culture, food, and way of life.<\/p>\n
Some photos here taken during the trip.. and although last year\u2019s images were full of colours..<\/p>\n
( you may see last year\u2019s photos here
\nhttps:\/\/www.williamchua.com\/blog\/golden-eagle-festival-2015-in-mongolia-part-2\/<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>
\nand here
\nhttps:\/\/www.williamchua.com\/blog\/golden-eagle-festival-2015-in-mongolia\/<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>
\nand last year\u2019s footage here
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