Festival of Mongolia

The Festival of Mongolia was built on the idea of introducing the dynamic living culture of the people of Mongolia to Americans. Mr. Aziz Rahman, president of the Indo-Mongolian Society had since 1992 hoped to present a Mongolian Naadam celebration in Central Park with Mongolian wrestling and archery competitions along with traditional performing arts.  Ambassador Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations strongly supported the idea and allowed the Festival of Mongolia concept to become a reality.

In the spring of 2000 the Festival of Mongolia presented a vast array of Mongolian cultural events including exhibitions, education programs and performing arts presentations. The American Museum of Natural History held a once in a lifetime exhibition of the Mongolian national treasure called "The Fighting Dinosaurs". The Metropolitan Museum of Art had special exhibition called,  " The Iconography of the Mongolian Horse in Islamic Art", and the E & J Frankel Gallery had an exhibition of Mongolian contemporary art.

   The American Museum of Natural History also presented a two week public program of performing arts including Mongolian wrestling, archery, music, dance, workshops, photography exhibitions and a Mongolian film festival. Asia Society featured an exhibition of Mongolian masks along with a lecture presentation on Mongolian and Korean Shamanism and a Mongolian music concert.

The Naadam was held for two days in Central Park and Mongolian Gers were placed onsite to convey the feel of a Mongolian nomad camp. Many thousands attended the events of the Festival of Mongolia in 2000, and by popular demand there was another Festival of Mongolia in 2001 and 2002. The list of these events can also be found on the Festival of Mongolia website at: festivalofmongolia.com 

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