I wish there was more coverage on this event. According to the Wikipedia, my country (Canada) won two Bronze medals, but I can’t find much more info.
The World Nomad Games, a cultural and sporting festival centred on traditional nomadic sports, are happening in Kyrgyzstan this week.
Athletes from 104 countries are taking part in the games, which showcase sports of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Check out the various events, which end on Sunday.
Some photos and sources that I found:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_World_Nomad_Games
- https://worldnomadgames.org/en/accreditation-of-participants-of-the-vi-world-nomad-games/
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/world-nomad-games-photo-scroller-9.7329928
I went a few* years ago; it was super cool, and Kyrgyzstan is a crazy beautiful country.
I’m glad it’s back in Kyrgyzstan; when I went Erdogan was making a big deal of it and the following year it was supposed to be in Turkey and then it seemed to disappear of the radar for a bit. Good to see it back. I found a couple of pictures, God knows what I did with most of them…
.*: goddamn, a few = 8 years ago apparently. Damn.
That’s really cool! I’d like to see it someday, thank you for sharing the photos. How close were you able to get to the various events? From the videos I found, it looked fairly casual.
Definitely on the casual end of the spectrum - I can’t even remember needing tickets, although I suppose I must have! The opening/closing ceremonies, Kok-Boru (crazy, but well worth experiencing) and wrestling/floor-events were in proper venues - the Kok-Boru one is a permanent stadium, but if I remember right the wrestling ones were temporary constructions for the event, both on the edge of lake Issyk-Kul. The rest was essentially in a field in the middle of nowhere - public transport was either Marshrutka, or as I learned on the way back hitchhiking is much more efficient - and it was all pretty easygoing as I recall.
Really recommend it; Kyrgyzstan is a beautiful country, sparkling rivers that are so blue you could almost think they were dyed running from snow-capped mountains through green plains below… Amazing place. And I found the Kyrgyz people to be some of the most friendly and hospitable I’ve ever met (although I know that sounds trite and everyone says that about wherever they go, but still, it’s true.)
Why is the the horseman on fire? Why is the person in the background also on fire? I wen through the links and can’t seem to find an explanation other than he is demonstrating his skills.
I found this other article, but it doesn’t expand on it past that it was a “stunt”
https://www.chosun.com/english/world-en/2026/09/04/PSPLRWL47RE4LAHNOWHAVH6CGY/
Thanks, well at least now I know there isn’t a horseback immolation competition, just a stunt.
Yeah, when I went there were the competitive events (Kok-Boru, wrestling, that kind of stuff) in the main stadia in Cholpon-Ata, but then a short Marshrutka ride away there was a second venue which was more like a town fair type deal, fields in the middle of nowhere with some competitive stuff (archery and the like) but also exhibition displays.
