Naadam Festival Day 1

The biggest festival in Mongolia, the Naadam Festival, is held annually on July 11-12th. The entire nation is in festive mood and the streets are filled with locals wearing traditional costumes. 'Naadam' means 'games' in Mongolian. Four games are competed during the festival: Mongolian wrestling, archery, horse racing, and anklebone throwing.

Japanese sumo and Mongolian wrestling have some similarities, but one big difference is that Japanese sumo is competed on a dohyo or ring, while Mongolian wrestling has no ring. In recent years, many Mongolian wrestlers have come to Japan to compete in Japanese sumo. The current and previous yokozuna (highest ranked sumo wrestler) are both Mongolian.

The opening ceremony was held in the morning on July 11th. Two full hours of dance and music performances. It was like watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics!