Naadam, Mongolia's largest national festival, opens with its grand ceremony on Saturday, July 11, 2026 in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and runs through July 13. Watch the days count down on our live Naadam countdown.
When is Naadam 2026?
Unlike many Asian festivals, Naadam is held on fixed dates: the main national celebration takes place every year on July 11–13, with the opening ceremony on July 11 marking Mongolia's 1921 revolution. Smaller local Naadams are staged in towns and provinces across the country throughout the summer.
The Three Games of Men
- Wrestling (bökh) — hundreds of wrestlers in open-air bouts, with no weight classes and an eagle-dance victory ritual.
- Horse racing — long-distance races across open countryside, traditionally ridden by children.
- Archery — men and women loose arrows at distant rows of small woven targets.
- Ankle-bone shooting — a fourth discipline now contested alongside the historic three.
A celebration of the steppe
Naadam — in full "eriin gurvan naadam", the three games of men — is a vivid expression of Mongolia's nomadic heritage, and UNESCO inscribed it as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. The opening ceremony at Ulaanbaatar's National Sports Stadium brings parades of riders, dancers and musicians in traditional dress before the contests begin, drawing crowds from across the country and around the world.
Count down to Naadam
Open the live Naadam 2026 countdown for the exact days remaining, explore more festival countdowns, or create your own countdown in seconds.