I'm in the processing of updating this new blog with stuff from a previous defunct one. It seemed a pity to lose some of the good stuff, although I am not going back more than a year.
The Naadam Festival happens annually in August in Mongolia. Before the Communists came to power in the 1920s, there were little Naadam festivals all over Mongolia - but the Communists were worried that it would be hard to patrol spontaneous gatherings that might turn against the Govt in mood - so they centralised the whole thing in the capital, where they could keep an eye on it!
The big national Naadam Festival happens on 11th August every year, and it's become a kind of huge parade, sports-fixture, and "national pride" event. All the previous elements of national dance and Buddhist ceremonies were removed by the Communists, of course. In their place it's been made more "popular" - the guy above in the top-hat on the motorbike is a famous rock performer in Mongolia. However, since the end of Communism in Mongolia (1990s) many more of the smaller, regional, traditional Naadam festivals take place - and not only on 11th August!
The performers in the huge masks are Tsam-Dancers - they represent some of the "protective" deities of Lamaist Buddhism (Mongolia has both Red-Hat and Yellow-Hat Buddhist communities). The whole thing goes on for three days, in displays of the three "Manly Sports" - wrestling, archery, and horse-riding.
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